Tightrope
by dontyouwannadance
Summary: The sad fact of the matter was that the music industry had morphed into something that was more about image than actual talent. That was the root of Tori's problem, and the reason that she needed Jade.
1. Chapter 1

The clock on Tori Vega's cell phone reminded her of the fourteen long minutes she'd been waiting for her meal to arrive, and the even more aggravating twenty-seven that had passed since noon, the time she'd given her still absent guest. While she pondered what could possibly cause the chefs in such an empty restaurant to take _fourteen_ minutes to put together a stupid sandwich, Tori anxiously picked at her cuticles and tried to keep her heart rate from going any higher. Lately, every time her mind wandered to the subject of her career - or what she was going to have to do because of it - a wave of nausea attacked her stomach. Six months ago, when she'd finally received her recording contract, _five years_ after she'd enrolled in Hollywood Arts and decided that singing was what she truly wanted to do with her life, the thought of the whole thing made her heart jump for an entirely different reason. She was definitely still excited – there was no doubt about that. It was just that now, this whole singing career thing was turning out to be a lot more complicated than Tori had ever imagined it would be. It was a wonderful opportunity – thousands and thousands of people dreamt of what she now had, and what she hopefully was going to have in the future. Gratitude wasn't _at all_ lost on her, but the nagging feeling that she was selling herself out wouldn't go away.

The wait time on Tori's sandwich was officially seventeen minutes when she realized she'd been picking at her thumb so long that it was now bleeding. She reached for a napkin to clean it up just as the chair across from her was pulled out with a loud screech, and a very impatient Jade West took a seat in it.

"Yeah?" She made no attempt to apologize for being half an hour late, and the look she was giving her so-called friend wasn't making it any easier for Tori to do what she'd invited Jade to the restaurant for.

"Well, umm…I have a favor to ask you."

"I don't do favors, Tori. Especially for you." Jade replied bluntly, hardly even giving Tori the time to finish her sentence.

"I know that." Tori lowered her voice as her waitress _finally_ brought her meal, "but you _owe_ me."

"Can I get a margarita?" Jade spoke to the waitress in a rather rude tone of voice, completely ignoring Tori's plea. She'd shown up, at least, and that was a good sign. Tori knew that getting Jade to meet with her would be biggest challenge in part one of her scheme.

"Sure. Lime, strawberry, peach, or coconut?" Tori made a mental note to leave the woman a good tip, solely for putting up with Jade so nicely, as she obviously wasn't getting it for bringing out Tori's meal in a timely manner.

"Lime." Jade decided, adding at the last minute without a second thought, "And put it on her tab." Tori sighed in frustration, but gave the waitress a look of approval before the two were alone again.

"And now you owe me even more." A crease appeared between Tori's eyebrows as she told Jade how she felt without saying another word. She then calmly grabbed one half of her sandwich, watching as her guest reached over a second later to rip a large chunk off of the remaining half before she had the chance to protest. "Alright, so before you're indebted to me for more than what your life is worth, can we talk?"

"_Fine_." Jade muttered through her teeth after swallowing a bite of stolen sandwich. "_What_ do you want?"

"Okay, so…this is really kind of embarrassing, actually" Those words immediately caught Jade's attention, and her attitude toward the meeting flip-flopped. "but I kind of discovered this week that everybody at the record label thinks I'm a lesbian."

"Oh my god." Jade managed to spit out those three words before she burst into laughter. "Why do they think that?" She gave her friend a mischievous smile as she absentmindedly picked up the spoon in front of her. "What have _you_ been doing lately?"

"Nothing! I don't know, maybe they got me mixed up with someone else." Jade's face was slowly becoming a lovely shade of fire truck red, from her continuous laughter. "Stop laughing at me! This is a big problem! It turns out this is the reason why I got signed…"

"How the hell do you go _six months _with those people and _not _realize they think you're a lesbian?"

"It's not really something we talked about a lot until recently… And I didn't know that's what they meant by their little comments. I guess it didn't really help that I haven't had a boyfriend in almost a year, and even then, his name was Sam, so I guess… It's just…They're going for some sort of _diversity_ thing at the label. It's kind of too late to correct them now anyway, but even if I tried, they could drop me! There's not really anything else 'diverse' about me. You know this has been a huge opportunity for me. I can't risk it."

"Yeah, yeah. I get that. What does this have to do with me? What made you think I'd care about your little sob story?"

"Right. Well..." The realization crossed Jade's face before Tori opened her mouth. "I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend."

"No." Jade answered gruffly under her breath, just as the waitress returned with her drink.

"Thank you." The stressed musician said with a forced grin, when it appeared that Jade wasn't going to say it for herself. The waitress simply smiled and walked away, at which point Jade started up a chorus of "no"s.

"No. No way. Nuh-uh. Not gonna happen. Never in a million years. I'm _not_ helping you. No. No no no."

"Jade, come on! You owe me! I've paid your rent for the past _three months, _and I'm buying you that margarita, _not to mention_ all the physical and emotional damage you caused me in high school that can _never_ be undone."

"Why me?" She whined, coming closer to giving in to Tori's pleas, just as the girl had expected her to.

"Because, you're the best actress I know who knows me well enough to pull it off."

"Cat knows you. Make her do it." Jade lifted her margarita and dumped a large portion of it into her mouth, grimacing a few seconds later when she had a brain freeze.

"Like that'd last more than ten minutes without her blowing it."

"Yeah, you're right." She sighed with disappointment as she carefully set her fogged up glass on the table and tried one last desperate plea. "I'll pay you back for everything, I swear."

"Oh really? With what money?"

"I actually have a job this week. I got a part in a Nicolas Cage movie."

"Oh really? As _what_, an extra?" Tori smirked, knowing that Jade wasn't one to stay indebted to someone when she had a way out. She was hooked.

"No. A bartender."

"Do you have to sleep with him?"

"_No._" Jade retorted, wrapping her fingers around the stem of her margarita glass. "But he does yell at me and then the bar blows up and I die…_but_ I have almost ten minutes of screen time, and it's something."

"Ten whole minutes? Wow."

"Well it's more like seven, but still. After this I'll be able to pay you back at least half." She dunked her spoon into her drink and started poking at it, as she'd drank most of the liquid part and all that was left now was a frozen mass of cheap lime-flavored alcohol.

"Or you could do this for me and not worry about the money." Tori pushed the very last bite of her sandwich into her mouth with her index finger and gently placed both hands together in her lap with a weak and knowing smile.

"No." She said it one last time, though they both knew it was pointless for Jade to continue protesting.

"Look, I know it's kind of early to be saying this, but everyone at the record company keeps saying they've got a really good feeling about this album… We posted one of the singles on Splashface last month and it's got almost sixty thousand hits already. Associating yourself with me might actually get you somewhere someday…"

"Or, in a more likely course of events, it could completely destroy my reputation and I'll spend the rest of my life selling cosmetics to ugly middle-aged women who should really be spending their money on plastic surgery instead."

"Jade. Please." Tori tried to give the actress her best puppy dog face, and it seemed to have worked. Jade's face fell, and Tori realized she'd finally gotten through to her. With a loud sigh, the actress took another drink of her margarita before speaking again.

"So would this be like…a month long thing, or do I have to pretend to like you for longer than that?"

"Oh my gosh. Thank you!" Tori cheered, overcome with relief She took a sip of her drink and realized she'd never really thought the whole thing through. "Umm, it kind of depends, I guess. Maybe a month? Two? We go out for a little while, we break up, we both go back to liking guys as if this were some sort of experimental lesbianism kind of thing that we're by that point _completely_ over, and nobody suspects a thing."

"And that'll work out for you? One fling with a chick and you fit the "diversity" mold?" Jade raised an eyebrow in suspicion and finally finished off her drink.

"Well I haven't really thought that far ahead…but I'm hoping that by that point they'll like me too much to get rid of me…" Jade rolled her eyes at the thought of that. "And you know how this town is. Once you've got a reputation for something, people never forget."

"Alright. When do we start?" She stuffed her napkin into her empty glass and looked up with a straight face.

"Are you free tomorrow night? I have meetings until 7, but after that you could come by my place and we could plan this out a little better…"

"Okay." She nodded and started to stand up, pausing halfway out of her chair to say one more thing. "I'm not sleeping with you."

"Uh, what? I-I didn't ask you to." Tori replied, slightly taken aback.

"Just so we're clear."

"We're clear."

"I have needs but you're not going to fulfill them."

"I don't want to."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! :) Thanks for all the lovely reviews on the first chapter. I'm glad you liked it, and hopefully you'll like this one too. **

At exactly 6:58 PM, Tori let the door slam behind her and dropped her abnormally heavy bag on the counter top in her kitchen, before checking the time on the microwave to see if she was late. She was relieved to see she still had two minutes left before the time she'd given Jade, and the petulant actress was never on time to anything these days, if their lunch date the day before was any indication.

Digging through her bag for her cell phone, Tori yawned, already exhausted from the busy day she'd had. Her eyes slowly closed for a moment and she curled her fingers around her pear phone, only for the device to fly out of her hand and hit the floor when she snapped back to reality a second later.

"Hey, beautiful." Jade appeared out of nowhere and leaned against the counter top beside the apartment's sole resident with a smirk on her face that almost frightened Tori more than her sudden appearance.

"Can you not do that? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I _scare _you?" Jade reached out to play with a wild strand of Tori's hair as she spoke in the incredibly seductive tone Tori was sure she used simply because she knew it creeped Tori out. Slapping the temporarily playful woman's hand away, Tori put a couple feet between them and directed her attention to the cabinet that contained her glassware.

"Yes. You did." She removed two glasses from the second shelf and warily faced her indebted friend again. "Do you want something to drink? I've got water, milk, iced tea…"

"Wow. Even your _drinks_ are boring." She paused for a moment, as if she expected Tori to offer her anything else. "I'll just have water." Tori filled the two glasses with a pitcher from her refrigerator and set one on the counter top for Jade, while she held onto the other and bent down to retrieve her phone.

"So I've got an idea."

"Congratulations." Jade responded sarcastically before Tori could explain what exactly that idea was.

"I'll be in the studio tomorrow, Thursday and Friday, recording a few more songs for my album and finishing a couple things, and I was thinking if you're free any one of those days, we could have lunch and you could show up a little early so some of the guys can meet you…"

"Definitely not tomorrow. Really not feeling Thursday," Jade grumbled in annoyance, "but Friday I've got plans all day, so I guess it'll _have_ to be Thursday." She gave her answer with a bored sigh and dropped her head, letting her hair fall around her face, concealing it.

"Don't sound so excited." Tori responded to Jade's uninterested tone with an eye roll.

"What? Am I supposed to be cheerful and full of joy about being forced to do this? I won a fake girlfriend, not the lottery, Tori." She took the first drink from her glass and grimaced at the taste of Tori's water, which she obviously didn't approve of.

"_I know that. _I'm not asking you to actually be happy about it. Believe me, I don't want to do this any more than you do. All I'm asking is that you _act _happy. Nobody's going to believe you're really my girlfriend if you act like it's killing you to stand within twenty feet of me." She paused for a moment, waiting for Jade to react, but she only did so by _not _reacting. "We played lovers enough times in high school to be able to pull it off in real life, don't you think?"

"_Yeah." _Jade muttered something under her breath and started toward the living room, leaving her glass on the counter. "So what are you thinking? I come in, act like I love you for a couple minutes, meet a few losers and we split?"

"Well not in those words, exactly, but that's the basic idea."

"You're paying for all my meals while we do this, right?" Jade made herself at home on Tori's couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table without a second thought.

"No! You're already paying off enough debt!" Tori protested, forcing her visitor's feet back onto the floor as she took a seat beside her. Jade groaned but said nothing, and the two of them sat in silence for a moment, extremely conscious of the fact that they were embarking on what could quite possibly be the most awkward journey they'd ever make together.

"I know you really don't want to, but thanks for doing this for me. And _I know_ this is lying and I'm basically trading my conscience for a recording contract, but I've worked so hard for this, and I can't just pass up this opportunity… It means a lot that you're helping me." Jade rolled her eyes in annoyance, but responded rather nicely.

"I'm pretty good at lying. So you're welcome." Tori offered up an awkward smile in response, but didn't know how else to respond to her ordinarily mean friend being so nice to her.

"Okay, well… Is there anything you want to go over before Thursday?" She casually took a drink from her glass of water and avoided making eye contact with her guest once she'd asked.

"I'm good. Four years of acting classes with Sikowitz had to be good for something, right?" Setting her hand on Tori's shoulder, Jade began to stand up, only for Tori to go completely rigid at her touch. "God, Tori. What was that?"

"Huh? Sorry. I'm just kind of tired, and I just…"

"_You _obviously need a couple more acting classes . Nobody's gonna think you're my girlfriend if you flinch like someone just shoved a stick up your ass every time I touch you." With an eye roll, Jade sat back down beside Tori on the couch, cross-legged.

"S_orry_. I'm a singer, not an actor! I make music, I don't serve alcohol to Nicolas Cage and then get blown up for a living."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You took the same classes I did."

"For half the time!"

"It was _not_ half- Whatever. You have an excuse. We just need to work on it. Relax, okay?" Tori nodded and took a deep breath, though her eyes reflexively grew bigger as Jade leaned toward her. "It's just acting. I'm not going to hurt you or anything." Jade was now so close that Tori could feel her breath on her face. She tried not to look uncomfortable, though it was obvious by the look on the frustrated face in front of her that it wasn't working. The superior actress reached out and gently ran her hand along the side of Tori's jaw, pushing her even further. "You love me. Just remember that. You _like_" the word slipped out of her mouth with a flick of the tongue and was followed by a brief but immensely awkward pause "it when I touch you. Remember that. You love me. Say it."

"_I love you_." The words felt strange coming out of her mouth, though she'd said them in a dozen different plays to several different people throughout her high school career and never once meant it. Now, it didn't feel like acting. It was lying – she was pretending to be a person she wasn't for her own gain, and so playing this particular part wasn't anything like performing it in a play. This time it was much more _real_, in a strange way.

"You do. Keep that in mind. The more you think it, the more you feel it. You can pull it off."

"Okay…" Tori mumbled, unsure if her temporary teacher's suggestions were actually going to be helpful. "Can you…" Jade instantly pulled away with a quick nod, before she stood up one last time.

"There are worse actresses than you." Her face went blank a second after she spoke, when she realized she'd just given Tori a compliment. "I'll see you Thursday."

"Yeah. Thursday."


	3. Chapter 3

The minuscule amount of light from the streetlight outside her apartment was invading Tori's bedroom through the sole window across from her bed. It illuminated her dresser, the back of her closet door, and the end of her mattress, fading out just above her bent knees. With her legs pulled up to her chest and the only sound in the entire apartment that of her heavy breathing, Tori glanced at her relatively useless alarm clock – she still kept the one she'd had as a child on the small table neighboring her bed, though she used the alarm clock on her phone in favor of the actual physical one, and barely even used it for its mediocre time-telling capabilities. She kept it merely for sentimental reasons, and because it just seemed like the right thing to put next to her bed.

It was 4:09 AM. She was supposed to wake up in only two hours, but she'd hardly even fallen asleep, after what felt like hours of tossing and turning and thinking, only for a bizarre, paranoid nightmare to abruptly wake her up.

The dream was still there, floating in her head in detail. Although she didn't want to, she could still picture it, like a movie playing on the backs of her eyelids. In this dream, she'd woken up at a normal time on a normal day, only to leave her bedroom and walk into a kitchen occupied by Jade, wearing nothing but the most atrocious hot pink "kiss the cook" apron, which she would never _ever _be caught dead in if this were the real world. The weirdest part of the dream, however, was that this didn't seem the slightest bit weird. She was just aware of the normality of the whole thing, as if Jade spent all of her time naked in Tori's kitchen, making breakfast food. It was weird, but Tori's dream self didn't think so. Completely unaffected by the strange circumstances, Tori had crossed her tiny living room and entered the kitchen, finally speaking when she asked,

"What's for breakfast?"

"I'm _attempting_ to make omelets. I know how much you love them, but _you know_ how bad of a cook I am." Jade said with a laugh, in a 1960's TV housewife voice that sounded nothing like her. As far as Tori knew, Jade was actually a decent cook, which was another strange detail that only seemed odd when she looked back on her nightmare.

"Well hurry up, I'm starved." Tori had responded, only to get a look in return that was very un-Jade. Her smile was so wide that the more clothed of the two could almost feel the corners of her mouth ache, as if it were _her_ face stretching into the painful shape of that massive grin. Jade was looking straight into Tori's eyes in a loving way that she had never seen on the girl's face before, even when Beck was still in the picture.

"Oh, relax, will you? These things can't be rushed." And with that, she reached behind her neck, dramatically untying the string that held the apron up and letting it slip to the ground, just as the dream came to a crashing halt and Tori was jolted from her sleep.

The dream could easily be explained, but that didn't slow her heart rate. Of course she was dreaming about Jade – in just over twenty-four hours, she had to pretend she was in love with the girl, and she'd been stressing over it non-stop since she'd made the decision of who to ask. Tori knew she'd be able to do it. She'd polished her acting skills enough during her time at Hollywood Arts, and she certainly didn't have to worry about Jade – the girl could manipulate anybody into believing anything if she truly wanted to. She was no Meryl Streep, but she was now quite honestly the best actress that Tori knew personally.

It wasn't a matter of pulling it off, because they could do that. The only thing Tori was having trouble with was justifying telling a lie in order to keep a record contract. She wanted it so badly, but her conscience kept poking her with a stick, reminding her that it was _wrong_, and she was giving up her dignity for a job. The thing was, there was always the possibility that Tori wouldn't get the same opportunity again, and she'd already put so much effort into her first album that backing out over something as silly as her sexuality seemed stupid. It didn't matter that she was talented. That wasn't even what got her signed, apparently. The sad fact of the matter was that the music industry had morphed into something that was more about image than actual talent. That was the root of Tori's problem, and the reason that she needed Jade. That's why the media was swarming with pop stars who didn't know a crescendo from a hole in the ground, and people like Andre, who had so much talent to offer the world, were still being kept from the recognition they so strongly deserved.

Tori knew that if she wanted to get anywhere in this industry, a little fibbing was in order, but that didn't stop her from feeling bad about it. As she entertained these thoughts, she decided she was jealous of Jade. The girl had no qualms about telling a little white lie, or even a gigantic one. She certainly wasn't sitting up in her bed at night, recovering from a dream brought on by stressing over a tiny fib she was required to tell in order to keep her job.

Although it was hardly worth it, Tori did manage to fall back asleep, but only to wake again two hours later in order to start a day that was so stressful and unproductive that she almost wished she hadn't. It was her first day all over again. Her stomach was twisted into knots and she was so jittery she could hardly speak. It certainly didn't go unnoticed, as Tori was not the only one in the studio who was annoyed with her behavior. More apologies fell out of her mouth than lyrics, and even when she could remember the words, whatever came from her lips would only be appealing to fans of word puzzles that required unscrambling.

Starting the day as early as 8 AM usually meant that Tori was out of the studio by 3 or 4, but when she finally collapsed in the driver's seat of the cheap car she'd received as a present from her parents when she'd finally received her driver's license just before her 19th birthday, a dim 6 lit up on her dashboard. With a sigh, Tori turned her key and the engine sputtered to life. The check engine light lit up, as it always did, though three different mechanics had told her there was nothing wrong with the motor, and she backed out of her parking space, cranking up the volume of her radio to a level that prevented her from hearing her own thoughts.

On her way home, Tori stopped at the gas station and paid for $27.94 in gas and a six pack of the most caffeinated soda she could find, breaking one open to drink during the rest of her drive home while she wished it was a bottle of Grey Goose instead.

At 6:56, Tori struggled to find the right key, but eventually made her way into her apartment, ten times as frustrated as she'd been when she left. The refrigerator was her first destination, and she rummaged through it for a moment while stuffing her soda inside and trying to find some sort of alcohol instead, which it turned out she was – of course - completely out of.

"I bet I know where we could get some of what you're looking for." Smacking her knee on the refrigerator door, Tori jumped nearly a foot in the air at the sound of Jade's voice.

"Dammit Jade what are you doing in my apartment? How do you keep getting in here?"

"On top of the door frame is a terrible place to keep your spare key." She admitted with a smile as she stepped into the kitchen, wrapped in a bath towel and using a second one to squeeze the water out of her hair.

"Why are you wet? Did I fall asleep? Is this another nightmare?"

"No it's not, sweetheart." Jade teased, loving the reaction she was getting. "_Relax_. You were taking _forever _so I decided to wash up a bit. All I borrowed was your shampoo, so you don't need to freak out or anything. I'm not _that_ weird." Jade tugged at the towel wrapped around her, tightening it as she spoke in a way that didn't reassure Tori at all.

"Yeah, breaking into someone's house and using their shower without their permission isn't weird at all."

"It's not breaking in if the key's in plain sight." With an eye roll, Tori turned back to the fridge to close the door, only then realizing there was a more pressing issue than Jade's permission-free use of her shower.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Jade flung the extra towel over her shoulder and leaned against the counter beside Tori before she opened her mouth again.

"Well, I figured you could take me to dinner because I'm starved and we've got a few things to discuss before tomorrow."

"And calling to ask didn't seem like something you should do?"

"Calling is for people who will accept no for an answer." She sighed in annoyance and started tapping her fingernails on the outdated brown laminate counter top. "Where do you keep your hair dryer?"

"In the cupboard under the sink." Tori gave in easily, mostly because she was just as hungry as Jade was. "I'll go if you pay for the alcohol."

"No way." Jade teased as she returned to the bathroom to finish getting ready, calling over her shoulder as she went, "I'll buy the food. You get the alcohol."

"_Fine. _Just hurry up, I haven't eaten in hours." With that, Tori stalked off to her bedroom, where she touched up her makeup, messed with her hair, and started digging through her closet for something to wear. She wasn't exactly sure where Jade was planning to go, so she didn't know how to dress, but she assumed it wouldn't be quite as casual as the deli they'd gone to earlier that week. She struggled with choosing between two different outfits before going with the more casual one, only to be interrupted as she got dressed.

"You're not wearing that. We're going somewhere _nice, _not to _Subway_." Jade scoffed, leaning against the door frame wearing nothing but her bra and underwear, with her long, abnormally straightened hair pulled over one shoulder. She waltzed in and threw back the doors to Tori's closet, going through it like it belonged to her.

"Do you even own _anything_ other than what you're wearing right now? What's the deal?"

"I regret to admit that I did not come prepared." She declared, pulling out a deep purple one-sleeved dress with a ruffled neckline and holding it up in front of Tori. "Wear this." She tossed the dress in the girl's face and turned back to the closet to find something for herself. Tori stared at the dress for a moment, and then looked back up at Jade, before she started to undress.

It had been a while since Tori had worn the purple dress in her hands, and she was suddenly reminded that she'd gained a few pounds since then. She of course had no reason to worry about it fitting, however, as it slid on perfectly. The zipper got stuck halfway up though, so Tori turned back to Jade, who was stepping into the strapless olive green dress that Tori had worn to her aunt's third wedding. She pulled it all the way up and moved toward Tori, demanding that she close her dress up first. After adjusting it some more, the freeloading actress willingly zipped Tori's the rest of the way, without waiting for a verbal request.

"I might have to steal this from you." She stated as she studied herself in the mirror. The dress was a little on the tight side in the bust area, but other than that, she and Tori were nearly the same size, so it fit her almost perfectly, which was unfortunate for Tori's closet and wallet.

"What else is new?" The singer mumbled as she began looking through her jewelry for some earrings. She held up a silver necklace by the clasp and offered it to her friend, who took it without a word and reached behind her neck to put it on. Tori quickly found a black pair of dangly earrings, slipped into her go-to pair of heels, and followed a very anxious Jade out of the bedroom.

"Where are you wanting to go anyway?"

"You'll see." Once again, Jade's facial expression was likely future nightmare fodder for Tori, who followed her out of the apartment in silence.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Happy Monday**_**! (or Tuesday or whatever...) Hopefully your weekend was lovely. **

**Thank you all once again for the wonderful reviews. :)**

* * *

><p>Tori had been worried by Jade's sly smile, but the girl had directed her to a relatively safe – health-wise, at least - restaurant, which Tori had actually eaten at before and could reasonably assume would not cause her any harm. The problem was the price. The only other time Tori had eaten there, it had been with the man who had signed her record contract and a few other people, and she'd never seen the bill, but even though she hadn't seen the menu or the prices that time, she knew how expensive it had to be.<p>

Taking her seat with Jade at a table in the back of the restaurant, Tori nervously opened up the menu for the first time and nearly swallowed her own tongue when she saw the prices on the appetizer page alone.

"Umm, the plate might actually cost less to eat than the food. Are you sure about this place?" Jade just set her own menu on the table without bothering to open it and smiled mischievously.

"Don't worry about the prices."

"Well it's kind of hard not to when a loaf of garlic bread costs fourteen dollars."

"Yeah it's a total rip-off, but I've slept with the owner a few times. I get a pretty good discount here."

"You what? H-"

"Speaking of the owner…" A smile appeared on her face as a shadow fell over Tori, who turned around only to see a very familiar face.

"What? Beck! You own this place? Since when?" His mouth formed a slight smile as he moved further into Tori's line of sight.

"My great uncle built the place in the '80s. He died a few months ago and left it to me." Beck ran his fingers through his hair and pulled at the bottom of the dark grey vest he was wearing over a blue dress shirt, before he changed the subject. "So what are you guys doing here?"

"Oh, umm…" Tori mumbled, trying to come up with a good story that wouldn't require telling the truth.

"Discussing a business deal. Tori paid my rent the last few months so we're figuring out how I'm going to repay her." Jade answered flawlessly. She gave Tori a slight nod, urging her to go along with it.

"Uhh, yeah."

"Lots of boring money talk, which we'll only be able to tolerate with the alcohol that you're going to bring us."

"Sure thing. I'm gonna have to charge you double though." He joked, as he flagged a waiter. "The usual for you?" He pointed a finger at Jade, who nodded just as a handsome blond water appeared at his side.

"And just surprise her." Beck nodded with a knowing look on his face, which Tori figured meant that Jade's word choice had some kind of meaning to the two of them that she didn't understand.

Beck whispered something to the waiter and then took a seat beside Tori, leaning back casually in his chair with no idea of how awkward he was making the one who hadn't dated him feel.

"Have you seen everyone else lately?" He asked, directing his question at Jade.

"Not since the last time I was here." She answered him without having to think about it.

"I had dinner with Andre last week." Tori added to the conversation she wasn't so sure she was a part of. Beck just nodded, causing Tori to realize just how long it had been since she'd spent any time with him. He launched a lively – on his end, at least - conversation with Jade about what she'd been doing since they'd last seen each other, which started to drag on and on. After a while, Tori gave up on trying to participate in the conversation, and just accepted her fate. The same blond waiter from before returned with a bottle of wine that Tori couldn't pronounce the name of, and two very expensive-looking plates filled with the most appetizing pasta Tori had ever seen in her life. She played with her food, pushing it around on her plate while she slowly ate it, savoring the taste while noticing that Jade hadn't even touched hers yet, due to Beck's excessive talking.

While Tori concentrated on her delicious dinner, Jade slipped her foot out of her shoe and slowly slid it up Tori's leg, getting her attention right away. She pulled a face and nodded toward her ex-boyfriend, who was still talking about live entertainment. Tori looked at him and then back at Jade, who gave her the same look again.

"Umm, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go use the bathroom and then maybe we can get back to talking about your repayment…" Jade scowled at Tori as she stood up, but instantly went back to pretending to be listening to Beck while Tori hunted down their waiter. She found him just as he was leaving a table, with a glass pitcher in his hand.

"Uh, hi. I'm sorry to bother you but, umm, would it be possible for you to distract your boss for a minute? My friend and I would like to finish our meal in peace."

"Anything for a pretty lady." He grinned as his eyes dropped down for a split second. "He can get pretty talkative sometimes. When he first started running the place he had no idea what he was doing, but he's really gotten into the swing of things."

"Yeah, no kidding." Tori answered with a laugh, before thanking him and returning to the table, where Jade simply raised an eyebrow at her in confusion.

"Mr. Oliver, I hate to bother you, but it seems we're out of clean napkins." The waiter followed Tori to the table a moment later, coming to the rescue.

"What? We had a stack of them in the back two hours ago."

"Well they must have been used or misplaced then, sir." Beck sighed and started to get up from the table, quickly apologizing to his old friends.

"Well, you two enjoy your food. It was nice to see you again." With a smile he finally left them alone, and Jade's faked smile disappeared from her face immediately.

"Wow, he's gotten a lot more…talkative…since I last saw him."

"I know." Jade groaned as she reached for her silverware to unwrap it. "He could go on forever about the stupid restaurant business. I've figured out though that the longer I let him talk to me, the cheaper my food gets, so I deal with it." Jade reached out for the opened bottle of wine and poured some into her glass, taking a big drink before yawning and motioning with her hands that she was changing the subject.

"He still has feelings for you." Tori stated hesitantly. Jade only nodded in silence and then changed the subject.

"Anyway, I was thinking last night and I realized we don't have our story ready or anything. We at least need to get the whole how we met, first date crap figured out, right?" Jade finally picked up her fork and took a bite of her pasta, which had to be getting awfully cold, Tori thought.

"Well, I guess there's no point in changing how we met. We'll just say we went to high school together, and…I don't know…."

"Got together after a night of excessive drinking?" Jade suggested with a smirk. Tori scowled in response, but didn't come up with a better idea. "What? It'd take a _lot _of alcohol for me to get with _you_."

"Yeah, because as a wannabe actress who can't even pay her own rent, you've got a lot of other options."

"_Fine. _We met up again at a beach party, you thought I looked _really hot_ in my bikini, and after a few martinis I finally agreed to go on a date with you."

"Can I not sound completely desperate?"

"Fine. _Two _martinis." Tori just frowned at her as she tried to think of something better.

"How about…I had a crush on you all through high school and finally worked up the courage to ask you to be my plus one at my cousin's wedding, and you happily agreed."

"You sure none of that's true?" Jade turned her head slightly, narrowing her eyes at Tori but keeping the smile.

"_Yes. _ Why would I have a crush on _you?"_

"Oh, so it's such a ridiculous thought but you expect your boss to believe it? I'm offended. You're such a hypocrite."

"In reality it _is _ridiculous, but you're going to act like a decent person who likes me, and then it won't seem so far-fetched." Tori explained as she poured herself a glass of wine to take the edge off having this conversation with someone she'd struggled so much to get along with from the very day she'd met her.

"I'm still offended."

"I can come up with a much worse story, if you're unhappy with that one." Tori finally reflected Jade's playful facial expression back at her, which seemed to have the intended effect on her, as she gave in.

"Okay, _fine. _You had a crush on me in high school and in a moment of temporary insanity I agreed to be your date. So how long ago was this? Do we have an anniversary coming up? If we do, I'm not getting you anything." Tori just rolled her eyes in amusement and thought about it for a moment, while Jade sipped her wine and thought of more questions they'd need to concoct answers for.

"How about three months?"

"I would never be in a relationship with you for that long."

"You'd never be in a relationship with me at all. _We're going with three months_." Tori refilled her glass and unintentionally began a staring contest with Jade, which she won a moment later.

"Fine."

"Anything else?" With an impish smile, Jade lifted her glass and took another drink, only speaking after she'd swished the wine around in her mouth and then swallowed it.

"Our sex life." She finally said, enjoying the bright red color that Tori's face turned at the thought of it.

"What?"

"Top or bottom?"

"Uhh, when will we ever have to talk about this?" Tori was extremely embarrassed by the way she was reacting, and she could tell how much Jade was loving it.

"You work with a bunch of guys, don't you? Guys are pervs. They'll be real curious about what we do behind closed doors."

"We knit."

"Knitting? Is that what virgins do these days? Wow, your life is _so_ boring."

"No, I'm not… you know what I mean."

"I_ really_ don't, but don't worry. I'll cover you when we have to answer that one." They simultaneously reached for their glasses and took another drink in awkward silence, before another word was spoken. "You're so embarrassed right now." Tori only turned a brighter red. "I love it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again. Thanks for reading/reviewing the last chapter. Now on to number five...**

* * *

><p>All Thursday morning, Tori watched the door. Her day had been fantastic so far, and she knew that she wasn't supposed to be expecting Jade until close to noon, but that didn't prevent her from glancing worriedly through the glass at the doors every few minutes, almost expecting her pretend girlfriend to burst through them an hour early.<p>

In comparison to the day before, they were getting a lot accomplished, which Tori normally would have been very proud of and excited about, but everyone was starting to look hungry, prompting her to worry that they'd break for lunch before Jade arrived. She purposely messed up a couple of times, dragging out recording the last part of what would likely be the album's very last song in order to delay lunch time, but her worries were relieved when, just as she set her headphones down, Jade walked through the door, looking rather perturbed, but otherwise perfect, dressed in a form-fitting blue shirt, a pair of dark jeans, and some black boots that Tori had noticed were missing from her closet that morning. Her dark hair hung in waves down her back like it usually did, but this time she was holding it back from her face with a black headband adorned with a small white flower – another thing she'd stolen from Tori. She looked less severe than usual, and honestly, Tori thought, more beautiful, although her facial expression slightly disguised that. Before anybody's first impression of her could be affected, Tori burst out of the recording booth and met Jade at the door, grabbing a hold of her hand and receiving an explanation before she could ask her why she looked so annoyed.

"You need to tell people when I'm coming. The guy at the desk didn't believe I was your girlfriend, and your phone is off, so I had to flash him to get in here."

"You what?"

"You heard me. I am not at Mardi Gras, or spring break in Panama City, and I am not a stripper, so if this is going to be a regular thing-"

"It won't be… I'll talk to him." Holding Jade's hand even tighter, Tori turned to introduce her to everyone, listing off a long string of names that Jade wasn't interested in learning, while every man in the room stared at her.

"…and this is James, he's my manager." Tori motioned toward one last person, a tanned dark-haired man in his 30s who had walked into the room just in time to be introduced.

"Ah, Jade, right?" He asked, sounding awfully preoccupied, "I've heard all about you. Nice to meet you." He said quickly, before turning his attention back to his phone.

"Okay, so if we're going to break for lunch now, we'll be go-"

"Why don't we all go to lunch together?" Suggested the drummer, Marcus, a buff but short man with bleached blond hair, who Jade figured couldn't possibly be any older than she was. She vaguely remembered Tori explaining that he was only at the studio on this particular day because his father worked there and he'd tagged along. That must have also been how he'd ended up with his position in Tori's band, Jade assumed, because he certainly didn't look like a very good musician.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Exclaimed his taller, less attractive friend - the bass guitarist, whose unimportant name escaped Jade's mind at the moment. She studied the look on his face as Tori played with the fingers of her right hand, still held hostage by the scam artist's left one. Unattractive Bass Guitarist didn't seem to realize that Jade was _completely_ aware that he was staring at her chest, which was pretty much the entire basis of her opinion of him.

"Uhh…" Tori spit out, glancing at Jade as if she were asking for permission, even though the whole scheme was completely in her hands. "Well, I guess that would be okay." The two present members of the band seemed a little too happy at the sound of Tori's agreement, so she immediately turned toward her manager, who was still doing something on his phone while tuning everyone out.

"James! Come to lunch with us?" She begged, looking rather desperate.

"What? Uh, sure. Just a second." With a slightly relieved expression marking her face, Tori turned back to Jade and drug her out of the small room, into the hallway.

"I'm sorry they're coming with, it's just Marcus' dad is the Vice President of the company, so I need them _both_ to like me."

"Yeah, whatever." Rolling her eyes, Jade adjusted her stolen headband and impatiently waited for everyone else who was leeching onto their lunch date to hurry up.

Twenty minutes later, they had a table for five at the exact deli that Tori had invited Jade to on Monday. While everyone studied their menus, they sat in an awkward silence that transcended their order placement, until James' phone rang and he got up from the table to answer it. Tori tried to make small talk with the two band members, who Jade could tell she neither liked nor knew very well. She had no idea what they were talking about, but tried to look interested in the conversation anyway.

"Hey, Tori, come here for a second!" James called excitedly, dragging Tori off to join him in phone world while Jade was left with the two loser musicians, trying to look like she didn't want to kick herself in the face for agreeing to help Tori with such a stupid scam.

"So…" The less likeable one started, with a look in his eyes that told Jade he was about to say something inappropriate. "Are you a full-on lesbian or just bisexual?"

"Let's just say I'm not you-sexual." He somehow looked disappointed, as if he really believed he had a chance with her, and that was the proper way to pick up a girl.

"Do you guys do anything freaky? Tori's too much of a killjoy to talk about it but we've got a feeling she's a total animal." The cocky look Marcus gave her made Jade feel like she'd stepped into a horrible movie and the two perverts in front of her were contenders for the Worst Character Ever Created award.

"How old are you, twelve?"

"Eighteen, actually. Almost nineteen." Jade forced an obviously fake - even to them - congratulatory smile and turned her attention to Tori, who was standing in an open area several yards away, just within her line of site. She looked beyond excited, and Jade wasn't sure whether she should feel sickened by it, or curious.

"_So_?" The still-nameless boy inquired, stupid enough to still expect an answer. Since Tori wasn't there to do anything about it, Jade decided to play with them a little bit. She slowly licked her lips and gave them the most seductive look she had in her repertoire, before answering,

"She does things that neither of you will _ever _experience or even _dream _about experiencing in your sad, pathetic, little lives." They stared back at her uncomfortably, but she'd managed to shut them up.

"Oh my god guess what guess what guess what you'll never believe this oh my god-" Tori reappeared in an explosion of elbows, displaced silverware, and excited squealing. Jade reached out and clapped her hand over Tori's mouth before the girl's voice got high enough to break glass.

"Take a deep breath and then tell us what you're having a heart attack over." She spoke slowly while she cautiously removed her hand and then pushed Tori's drink back before it could get knocked over in her excitement.

"That call James just got… LG wants to use my song in the commercial for their next phone." The whole table fell into complete silence for a moment, before everybody started cheering. The two boys clumsily high-fived Tori and then each other, while James flagged a waiter and Jade sat silently in shock, which Tori hoped meant she was too excited for words, when she turned her attention to her faux-girlfriend and waited for a reaction.

"You…They…" A smile broke out on her face and she leaned in for a hug, rather than coming up with something to say. Tori wrapped her arms around Jade, slightly wary to touch her because she knew how their hugs usually ended. "That's really unfair. I hate you." Jade whispered in her ear as she held onto her a little more tightly than she was comfortable with. "But it _is_ really cool. Congratulations."

"Yeah, now make out!" Tori pulled away first in order to ball up her napkin and throw it at her drummer's face for that comment, and Jade settled back into her seat, before the waiter James had called over surprised her by handing her a drink. Tori took an identical one from him and made eye contact with Jade as she raised the drink in order to smell it, before she took a sip.

"Drinks on me." James declared happily, finally putting his phone down as he raised his glass toward Tori and Jade.

"Uh, what about us?"

"Repeat that question when you're 21." The boys' protesting was drowned out by the sound of those who were of legal drinking age bumping their glasses together in celebration.

"To Tori!" James cheered, while the two underage band members moped over being left out.

"This is jank. I'm not cheering if I don't get a drink." Jade only had to move her arm an inch before Tori grabbed a hold of her wrist and held it back.

"Don't pour that on him." Jade smiled at her, but muttered a question through her clenched teeth.

"Why not? He wants a drink."

"Not on his shirt! Just put it in your mouth." Marcus started laughing over her word choice, but instantly went silent when Tori glared at him and spit out "Don't laugh at that!" He instantly shut his mouth and for the most part, remained silent through the rest of the meal. With Tori and James back at the table, the boys behaved much better, which meant that Jade did as well. Without extreme irritation as a distraction, she settled into her role exceptionally well, acting so loving toward Tori that no one would ever guess that she didn't care for the girl all that much. Tori was far too excited about her great news to feel the least bit uncomfortable with the whole thing, and by the time they arrived back at the studio, they both felt like the day had been a success.

As all the men in the group went back inside, Tori hung back in the parking lot. They held hands by Tori's car, but when the door closed behind Tori's manager and band mates, the charade ended and Jade ripped her hand away.

"I think we were pretty convincing." Tori commented, keeping an eye on the windows at the front of the building, where the boys could appear any second.

"Well, Iwas." Jade joked with a slight smile. She glanced over her shoulder to see what her fake girlfriend was looking at, and then turned back to a smiling Tori.

"You were." She sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time. "Thanks again for doing this for me."

Jade's mouth said "It's not like I had a choice" but her face said "You're welcome." With a weak smile and an eye roll, she added, "It was kind of fun, actually…and I think your little band boys are now more in love with me than you're pretending to be."

"I wouldn't be surprised." After shoving her phone back into her pocket, Tori rested her hands on her hips and her smile grew even bigger. "But who could blame them? You look amazing today." Jade's cheeks turned slightly red as she smiled, but she responded in typical Jade fashion,

"You're not getting these boots back."


	6. Chapter 6

**My apologizes for taking so much longer with this chapter than I usually do. I was planning on posting another oneshot in place of this chapter this week, but that didn't happen haha. Thanks for the reviews. :) I hope you enjoy this one.**

"Is this party going to be as boring as it sounds?" Jade complained to Tori as the latter pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it on the bench beside her. She started picking through the pile of dresses she'd brought into the dressing room with her, arranging them by the order she wanted to try them on in.

"Probably. It's your fault for making everyone like you so much. You _have _to go now." Tori responded happily from the stall beside Jade's. "I don't know what you did…but the guys all love you for some reason. Especially Marcus and Hunter, but it's obvious why _they're _so fond of you." Jade's loud sigh echoed through the entire fitting room, filled with ten separate stalls, most of which were currently empty, excluding the two that Tori and Jade were occupying.

"The rest of them probably talked to the guy at the front desk and are now thinking that if they're nice to me I'll show them my boobs."

"Please don't." Tori laughed as she stepped into the first dress she'd taken to try on – a deep red, strapless one that clung to her body all the way down to her hips, and then flowed to the tops of her knees. She studied herself in the mirror with a look of approval, as an annoyed grunt echoed from the stall beside her.

"If I wear this dress I won't be able to control that."

"The blue one?" Tori questioned as she removed her own dress and started a possibilities pile before moving on to the next one. "Did they have it in a bigger size? That one was really cute."

"It's not really a matter of size..."

"Oh…" The pop-star-in-progress mumbled, paying much more attention to her reflection in the mirror than Jade's complaints about her dress. She frowned at her second choice and had just removed it when Jade burst through the dressing room door, nearly giving her a heart attack for the hundredth time.

"I'm stuck." She stated, indifferent to the shock she'd just given Tori, who was standing with her arms reflexively covering her chest. Her face flushed with red and she looked down at the lacy white undergarments she'd been caught in.

Without a single thought about how inappropriate she was acting, Jade simply turned around to give Tori access to the partly undone zipper on her back. She scooped her hair up to keep it out of the way and stood there impatiently for a few seconds before Tori finally moved toward her. With more trouble than had been expected, the zipper finally came loose. Jade let out a breath once her lungs were less restricted, but didn't make any move toward the door. Instead, she put her back to it and remained in the place, observing the red dress Tori had tried on first, and then the green one lying in a pile at Tori's feet, before her eyes moved up Tori's body in a slow progression toward her face. Tori stared back at her, uncomfortably aware of how long Jade's eyes were lingering.

"Umm…" She started to say, just as Jade looked away, to the view of herself in the mirror instead of Tori. "About the other day... Something Marcus said got me thinking." Jade's eyes fluttered shut for a moment, before she returned her attention to Tori's face. "You don't think anyone's expecting us to kiss, do you?" The actress simply shrugged in response, and it seemed she didn't consider it to be as much of an issue as Tori did.

"I don't know. Your little Kidz Bop band would certainly like to see that."

"But you don't think people will get suspicious if we don't?" Tori's arms finally fell to her sides for the first time since Jade had invaded her dressing room.

"They probably will. Why? Are you _uncomfortable_ with that?" The horrible teasing voice was back again, coupled with one of Jade's most seductive facial expressions. Tori was relatively sure that Jade sat at home at night, practicing ways to seduce and humiliate people.

"I…well…I mean…That's not too much to ask of you?" It was obvious, as Tori stammered, that she _was _uncomfortable with it. She hadn't exactly put enough thought into what she would have to do to keep up appearances when she'd decided to keep her job through lies.

"It's just stage kissing, right? You didn't seem to be too uncomfortable stage kissing my _boyfriend_ the day after you met him." She placed a hand on her hip and stared at Tori, letting the corners of her mouth curl upwards as she squirmed under the weight of Jade's accusation.

"Well…I guess not." Jade's face went blank as she pulled at the top of her loosened dress. She wrinkled her itchy nose and reached up to brush a strand of hair out of her face, before she nonchalantly shot Tori a question that sounded much less frightening coming out of Jade's mouth than it sounded when Tori's brain finally comprehended it.

"Do you want to practice?"

"Practice? N-now?" More stuttering added to Jade's enjoyment of the current situation. There were few things she loved more than making Tori uncomfortable.

"Yes, now. Would you rather make an even bigger deal out of it? Dinner, a movie, a bottle of wine? Or we could just do it fast right here. Less painful that way, like ripping off a band-aid." As Tori stared back at her, Jade's horrifyingly sinister smile made Tori's heart race even faster than the first thought of kissing her had.

"Well…okay." She nervously licked her lips and swallowed hard, as Jade moved closer. "Wait. Can I at least get dressed first? This is weird enough as it is. I don't want to kiss you without my clothes on." Jade only laughed, her eyes dropping down for a split second as she remembered that the other girl hadn't changed into another dress yet. Tori struggled with her shirt as she pulled it on, all the while watching Jade, who was actually passing on an opportunity to make Tori feel even more awkward, by averting her attention to her reflection in the mirror once again.

"Okay." The newly-dressed one exclaimed more loudly than she'd intended, while she buttoned up her jeans. Jade turned toward her again, looking rather apathetic. She let out a bored sigh and took a step closer, first placing a hand gently on Tori's neck. Immediately her entire body tensed up, and she stuck a hand out, pressing it to Jade's abdomen and pushing her away. "W-wait. I, uhh…" Jade quickly backed away even further, obviously deeply annoyed and likely offended as well, by Tori's hesitation.

"Jesus, Vega. Chill out. I'm not planning on sticking my tongue down your throat. No need to have a heart attack."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's just been a long time since I've really done this whole acting thing and I'm still kind of nervous, and afraid that we're not gonna be able to pull this off, and…" She pushed her hair back with one hand, exposing a face that told Jade that she wasn't telling the whole story - the story Jade had gotten out of her agitation already.

"You're just nervous because I'm a girl." Tori shrugged in agreement, though she still looked upset. "Why the hell do they think you're a lesbian? You're really bad at _pretending_ to be one."

"Well _sorry_. I don't know why they think that, but they do, and I don't really have much of a choice here. Can we just do it now?" Jade smiled but rolled her eyes at Tori's anxiety. As enjoyable as it was, it was starting to get a little old.

"Okay. Don't freak out this time." She taunted as she moved closer again, gently rested one hand on Tori's cheek, and leaned closer. "Deep breath." She whispered, urging the girl to relax. "Just picture Sikowitz's classroom. It's acting. Just like in class." Jade placed her other hand along her partner's jaw, and moved even closer, dropping her left hand to Tori's neck in what she assumed was a relaxing manner. She finally touched her lips to Tori's, holding still for a moment to take note of her reaction, or lack thereof.

When she realized that, with her eyes closed, it wasn't so different from kissing a boy that she couldn't pretend that Jade was one, Tori finally loosened up. The more experienced actress took note of Tori's relaxation and finally moved her mouth, parting her lips just slightly as she led the way. Tori followed her lead, suddenly remembering how she used to do this in school. It really wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be, and she found herself feeling relieved that they'd tried this in private first, when Jade's lips left hers and she took a step back.

"See? Not as bad as you thought it would be, was it?" Jade whispered as she stepped toward the door.

"No." Tori answered quickly. "Your lips are really dry though. You need some chapstick."

"Finding a dress is a little more important." Jade snapped, following it with a quick laugh. She was immensely thankful that Tori hadn't reacted badly and by some miracle appeared to be totally fine with what had just happened between them. It was hard to act like you loved someone who felt uncomfortable around you - they both knew that from the great deal of experience they had gotten in high school. When Jade finally left Tori's stall, she finally comprehended the gravity of their little charade. She suddenly felt as if maybe Tori's nervousness had rubbed off and had somehow gotten into her blood stream. Should the truth ever get out, what they were doing could ruin them _both, _and the realization that she was still willing to do it made her feel sick.

After they finished their shopping, Tori drove Jade home, stopping at the McDonald's drive-thru on the way. They sat in Tori's car, parked on the side of the road outside of Jade's home, and ate without a single word. The wind picked up outside as the clouds ascended on Los Angeles, preparing for some rain. A drop landed on the windshield just as Tori took one last drink of her soda and placed it back in the cup holder.

"Everything's…changed…since high school." Jade nodded in agreement and stuffed a couple fries into her mouth without saying a word. "It's weird. I never pictured my life turning out this way…"

"Are you about to get all cheesy?" Jade groaned in unison with a clap of thunder. Tori's cheeks started to turn pink as she realized that she was.

"Sorry." She mumbled an apology and played with the straw sticking out of her empty cup to avoid making eye contact.

"But you're right." Jade added a moment later. "You've changed…I've changed…It seems like none of us are even friends anymore. Everybody's so busy all the time… It's funny. Now, out of the whole group…you and I spend more time together than anyone else."

"Never saw that coming, did you." Tori joked, smiling as raindrops spattered on her windshield even harder. Rolling her eyes, Jade ripped her drink from the cup holder and pushed the passenger side door open. She looked back at Tori as she climbed out, and made sure to remind her,

"It doesn't mean I like you."


	7. Chapter 7

On Saturday evening, two weeks into her fake relationship with Jade, an extremely nervous Tori Vega stopped her car in front of a valet at the record company president's mansion and turned to her date, trying to remind herself to keep breathing. It was turning out to be more difficult than she'd planned.

"Ready?" She asked Jade, who seemed to be almost as nervous.

"No. Where's my other earring?" Jade started to look around in the car, while one hand was clamped to her naked earlobe.

"You lost an earring _already_?"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" She shot back, as Tori halfheartedly attempted to look for it too. Neither of them was successful, so Jade took out her remaining earring with a loud sigh and placed it in the cup holder for safekeeping. She turned to Tori with a rather acrimonious look on her face.

"Hurry up, the guy's waiting to take my car." The driver hissed as she ignored her date's bitterness and climbed out of her seat.

"Don't rush me! I didn't rush _you. _It's your fault we're late!"

"Just get out of the car!" She whispered roughly to Jade as she handed the car keys to the valet and smiled apologetically, both for the time she was taking and the sad appearance of her cheap car, in comparison to that of the other guests.

"You are just _so_…" Slamming the car door shut behind her, Jade looked up to see the valet staring at her with a raised eyebrow. "…damn _cute_ when you're mad." The man didn't seem to fall for the loving end to her sentence, but he climbed into the driver's seat without a word and left to park Tori's car anyway.

"Are you going to act like you actually like me now?" The annoyance in Tori's voice was so heavy that Jade didn't even have to look at her face to know just how she was looking at her.

"Are you going to quit acting like a frigid bitch?" She stepped onto the sidewalk outside the house and adjusted her stark white dress – She and Tori had decided to go with a black and white theme for the party, though as an inside joke, Tori was the one in black, Jade in white. They'd spent a fortune on the two dresses, but the event called for it, Tori said. It was the record company president's birthday, and apparently he went all out every year, inviting everyone who worked for him – minus the janitors and other minimum wage-receiving employees, of course – to a humongous birthday party at his mansion. Jade wanted to throw up at the sight of all the needlessly extravagant decorations on the outside alone.

"You know what? I can still take away what I said about you not having to pay me back. Maybe I'll add a fifty percent interest rate while I'm at it." Through her teeth, Tori threatened her date while still wearing a smile. She took Jade's hand in hers as they were welcomed at the doorway, where a man in a tuxedo took their bags from them and directed the two women into the back yard.

"_Noooo…_I'll be nice." Jade huffed disappointedly, finally making eye contact with her annoyed companion.

"Good." Tori faced her with a grin as she took hold of Jade's other hand and stood in front of her, looking directly into her eyes. "Now why don't you go find the alcohol. I have a feeling we're going to need a lot of it to get through tonight."

"Oh thank god. I was hoping this wasn't one of those lame dry parties." Jade said as she slipped away, leaving Tori to find someone she knew to converse with, in an attempt to not look quite so out of place.

When Jade, with a wine glass in each hand, finally found Tori ten minutes later, she was on the edge of the grass, near what was quite possibly the biggest pool in all of California. A tall, dark-haired man stood in front of her, talking very enthusiastically with his hands while flashing a big smile. Tori was wearing her flirting face when Jade approached them. She wasn't sure what to think and just handed one glass to her date, immediately taking a sip from her own to avoid having to speak.

"Jade, this is Noah McDaniel, who you'll be hearing on the radio soon-"

"Not before you." He said with an obnoxious laugh, like it was the most clever thing anyone had ever said. Jade already didn't like him.

"He got signed about the same time I did, so we're both kind of new." Jade nodded, and assuming that Tori wasn't going to introduce her, decided to be polite and finish it herself.

"Jade West. Future movie star and Tori's-"

"Best friend!" The aforementioned singer interrupted in a horrifically obvious way, as she slung her arm around Jade's shoulders and smiled at her like she was the Cheshire cat's second cousin.

Jade's mouth fell open in both shock and confusion, and Tori raised her fake girlfriend of now questionable status' wine glass to her mouth before she could say anything and blow her cover.

"This wine is amazing, isn't it?" She gave Jade a 'please don't ruin this for me' look, to which Jade responded by nodding happily and taking another drink, on her own this time.

"I'm gonna go get a refill…" She apprehensively walked away, unsure what Tori was doing, but not concerned enough to bother with finding out. She looked down into her half-full wine glass and realized she'd probably already come off as a major alcoholic, but she disliked this Noah guy enough that she didn't care what he thought of her. Still, he was irritating enough to convince Jade that she would need twice as much alcohol as originally planned, in order to get through the party without pushing him into the pool and looking like a massive jerk. She'd probably be able to get away with it if she could blame it on the alcohol.

Jade stood on the edge of the lot, watching the party for a while, going through another glass and a half of wine before she started wandering back toward where she'd last seen Tori. As she passed the refreshments table, Jade stopped, feeling completely out of her element as she casually sipping her drink and scanned the crowd, looking for Tori while trying not to be obvious about it.

"Hey…Where's your girlfriend?" The bass guitarist – Hunter, Tori'd reminded her – appeared out of nowhere on Jade's left. It took everything she had not to groan.

"Socializing with boring people I don't care to talk to." Jade answered coolly.

"Oh." He paused for a second, before getting straight to the point. "Can you get me some alcohol?"

"_No_. Why are you even at this party anyway?"

"Mark's dad is VP and he brought me. The people at the refreshments table know us though, and they won't let us have anything. Some guy was getting it for us earlier but we can't find him now, and nobody else will do it, so…please?"

"Sucks for you." He sighed in defeat, but didn't let it keep him down long. Hunter edged closer and leaned toward her so he could attempt to whisper in her ear.

"Wanna go find an empty room and pretend I'm Tori for a little while?"

"_No._ Isn't your babysitter looking for you?" He glared at her but kept on going, relatively unaffected.

"I'm only like, three years younger than you."

"I can legally drink and you can't. You're too young for me." As an afterthought, she added "And too male." Hunter laughed, and it was the most obnoxious laugh that Jade had ever heard, even compared to Tori's new friend, or the Queen of irritating laughter, Cat. Jade wasn't sure if he sounded that way because he'd been drinking, or if it was just his normal laugh. There was no memory of him finding anything particularly funny the first time she'd met him in Jade's mind, but he seemed like the kind of guy who would have a stupid laugh, to go with the rest of his stupid self.

"Show me your boobs then." He suggested, wiggling an eyebrow like he didn't realize that Jade wasn't even the slightest bit into him.

"Fuck off." She responded calmly as she kept an eye on Tori and Noah, who were still talking, now on the other side of the pool. His hand motions suggested they were talking about either the ocean or the churning in Jade's stomach that worsened as she watched Tori flirt with him. Or maybe it was the alcohol doing that. She was a little too buzzed to be able to tell.

"Just one?" Another request. He wasn't going to stop.

"Do you want me to show you my fist?"

"Not even for a second?" He drawled, "Just a little peek. Come on."

"I'm not showing you anything. _Go away_." It finally seemed to get through to him. He sighed and whined, both angry and disappointed,

"I knew Jeff was lying. No girl Tori would date would do something like that." Jade took another sip from her almost empty wine glass and smiled before she stumbled and partially twisted her ankle. She winced from the pain, but it subsided quickly.

"I don't know about that."

"So you really _did_ flash him?" Hunter asked excitedly, like admitting to it would somehow convince her to do the same thing for him. Jade ignored him for a moment, wondering if it would be a good idea to wander back toward her date quite yet. She chose not to, and instead turned toward the drunken underage bass guitarist.

"Is that what he said I did?"

"Can I at least _touch_ them?" He begged one last time, looking at her with such desperation it made her nauseous, with plenty of help from the excessive amount of wine she'd been drinking to avoid feeling replaced.

"You're one of the biggest perverts I've ever met."

"It works for me." He winked and then repeated his question. "So can I? Touch one? Just one. Only for a second. Come on. You're at a party. This is what you're supposed to do. _Party stuff. _Come on, do something wild. Just once. It's not like your girl's even paying attention to you. She's talking to that douche over by the pool. She won't even notice. Come on. _Come on._" Jade was too tired and slightly unbalanced to cause him any physical harm for asking such an idiotic question and being so annoying, so she gave in, hoping he'd be happy with this one-time thing and leave her alone from then on and let her drive up her BAC in peace.

"Will you go away if I let you?"

"Yes! I swear I will." She sighed in defeat and turned toward him, even though all the alcohol in her blood still wasn't quite strong enough to thoroughly convince her that it was a good idea. He reached out but had barely even touched her before they were torn apart and a girl in a black dress stepped between them.

"Jade! What are you doing?" She ripped the empty wine glass from Jade's hand and turned to face Hunter, who had gone bright red and looked like he was about to pee his pants.

"Have you been drinking too?"

"Uh…no. I mean, not a lot. I-This party's _really_ boring and she gave me permission and she's just really hot – she's so hot. You have great taste in women. I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I promise." He squeaked from terror as he spoke, trembling too much to properly convince Tori of a single word he'd said.

"I can't believe you. You're such a pervert, Hunter. If I could, I would fire you." He stared at her wide-eyed for a moment and then took off running before she could punish him any other way.

"I'm sorry." Jade mumbled into Tori's ear as she wrapped her arms around her from behind. "I forgot these are supposed to belong to _you_." Before Tori could say anything, Jade let go and started digging through the brunette's curled hair, eventually untangling a small earring, the same color red as her shoes. "Hey, I found my earring! What's it doing in your hair?"

"You are _unbelievable._" Tori angrily turned around and yanked the jewelry from Jade's hand. She tucked it inside her dress for safe-keeping, as she didn't have any pockets. Jade stared at her, biting her lip and looking, for a moment, like she was considering sticking her hand in there to take it back.

_"What?_ Nobody saw. It's not like you're my _real _girlfriend. You can't be jealous of a kid who's barely even old enough to buy a lottery ticket."

"This has nothing to do with jealousy! And _lots _of people saw. You have no idea how much you just embarrassed me."

"Well _sorry." _Jade hissed. "If I'd known you would be blowing me off to flirt with Mr. I Talk With My Hands and Think I'm Really Funny When I'm Not all night, I wouldn't have even come."

"Maybe you shouldn't have." Tori finally noticed all the people that were watching them fight, and was at first worried that they'd all heard what had been said. Nobody seemed to care too much, and they went back to doing whatever it was people do at parties this variety. "I don't know how this is going to work. It was stupid of me to think we could do this." She spoke softly, running her hand over her hair in frustration.

"I'll stop drinking." Jade offered, suddenly panicking at the thought that Tori might take away her repayment option. "It's not like I'm an alcoholic or anything. I can do it, easy. I'll go to your stupid parties and be bored the whole entire time and pretend that I'm madly, deeply in love with you, just please don't make me pay you back. I don't have _any_ money. My stupid part-time job at that disgusting movie theater only just _barely _pays enough to cover the minimum payment on my credit card. I'm on the verge of getting evicted. If I didn't have my paycheck from that stupid Nic Cage movie coming up on Monday, I'd be _screwed. _I have nowhere to go. I _can't_ pay you back." By the time she quit talking, it was only because she was too upset to say anything else.

"You didn't tell me things were that bad." A sudden wave of calm had hit Tori, and there was hardly any evidence that she'd been angry just a few seconds earlier.

"Of course I didn't. I don't want anyone to know that I've completely failed at being an adult." Tori knew that Jade was only showing how upset she was because she'd been drinking, but there was still something nice about her feeling like she could confide in Tori, even though they weren't exactly what most people would call best friends.

"Jade, you haven't…" She pulled the sobbing girl into a hug when she couldn't think of another way to comfort her, and started rubbing Jade's back as she wept into Tori's shoulder, in front of everyone. "Let's just go back to my place. You're right. This party is really boring. We can watch a movie and you can stay over and we'll figure something out. Don't cry." Jade pulled away from her and nodded, reaching up to rub her raccoon eyes, which had managed to bleed all over her face and now onto Tori's bare shoulder. Setting Jade's confiscated wine glass down on the table behind her, Tori took the whimpering girl by the hand, leading her through the crowd of people, picking up their bags and retrieving her car before she said anything.

"This will probably sound kind of mean, and I know you're only being this emotional because you've been drinking, but I kind of like it when this happens. Not that I like it when you're upset-" She quickly corrected herself as she turned off of the lot. "I just…I like knowing that you trust me enough to even talk to me about _anything._ Especially your problems."

"Don't expect it to happen a lot." Jade muttered from the passenger seat, where she was slowly starting to sober up.

"I know." Tori smiled at her response, but said nothing more for the rest of the drive.


	8. Chapter 8

_**I was gonna wait a little longer to post this...but obviously I changed my mind. Enjoy it and tell me what you think. :)**_

* * *

><p>When Tori pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building and parked her car, Jade had been fast asleep for nearly fifteen minutes. The task of waking her up in order to get her upstairs was intimidating, but very cautiously, Tori got out of her car and went around to the other side, nervously opening the door before she took both of Jade's shoulders in her hands and gently tried to shake her awake. It didn't work the first time, so she tried it once again. Now, the sleeping girl's eyes snapped open, and she stared at Tori for a moment in confusion, before realizing where she was.<p>

"Come on, let's go upstairs." A tangled mash of syllables came out of Jade's tired mouth, none of which even slightly resembled actual words, but Tori took it to be some kind of agreement and helped her get out of the passenger seat.

"I'm so tired." Jade groaned as her hand was taken, and with two little beeps, the car doors locked. Tori curled her pinky finger around her keychain and started leading the way up to her apartment, while Jade followed, still grumbling about how exhausted she was.

"I know, I know. Just get in the elevator. You can sleep when we get upstairs."

"Can I just sleep _in_ the elevator instead? Your apartment smells weird."

"It does not!" Tori took offense to the mildly inebriated girl's comment at first, but she let it slide once she saw Jade's helpless face. The mixture of alcohol and sleep deprivation certainly wasn't having a good effect on her.

"It _really_ does."

"Stop insulting my home or I won't let you go to bed at all." Jade scowled at her but silently gave in, and neither of them said another word until after Tori had locked the door behind them. She turned around to see Jade collapsed on her cheap and only somewhat comfortable blue sofa, already in the process of falling back asleep.

"No no no. You're not sleeping in that dress. It's too expensive."

"_No._ Leave me alone." Jade protested, putting an arm up to ward off her companion while she curled her body around a throw pillow. Tori untangled her and yanked her off of the couch.

"You and I both know you're not too drunk to change clothes." Tori muttered, tugging the girl toward her bedroom while she complained.

"I'm not _drunk _at all_._ I'm _tired, _and _maybe _a little bit tipsy." She was quiet for a few seconds, as Tori let go in order to find something for Jade to sleep in. "Okay, maybe _moderately _tipsy, but not drunk. I'm just tired, and that party stunk, and that stupid radio station you had on in the car put me to sleep and I'm still not completely awake yet."

"Keep complaining and I'll put you back to sleep with my fist."

"I'd like to see you try." Jade had a grin on her worn-out face when Tori finally turned back to her with a sweatshirt and a pair of yoga pants. She held them out for Jade to take, but she just stared at the clothes as if she weren't familiar with their function.

"I hate zippers." She muttered in annoyance and put her back to Tori, with a loud sigh. The singer willingly unzipped Jade's dress without a word and helped her get out of it, before returning to her closet to find a hanger to keep it on, while Jade got herself dressed the rest of the way.

"We can talk in the morning if you still want to." Taking a pillow from her bed, Tori led the way back to her living room, where she tossed the pillow on the couch and ripped a blanket off of her recliner, usually doubling as a blanket rack, and handed it to her freeloading friend.

"I won't want to. Enjoy that feeling while it lasts. I wouldn't share my deep, dark secrets with you even if you were my _real _girlfriend."

"Well…as long as one of those secrets isn't that you're a serial killer planning to kill me, I think I'm okay with that." Jade only smiled and roughly tousled Tori's still neatly-done hair before she collapsed onto the couch and got comfortable.

"Have some nice nightmares about me." Tori turned and went right back to her room before Jade could tell from the color of her face that she'd already done that a couple of times.

Once Jade was out cold on the couch, Tori showered and changed into her pajamas, assuming she probably wouldn't be getting much sleep, once again. She proved herself wrong though, and was out like a light in a matter of minutes once she'd gotten comfortable. All through the night, her dreams blurred together into an indiscernible mass of images that meant nothing to her, and in the morning Tori woke up feeling well rested for the first time in quite a while.

As always, her phone was Tori's first priority, and she stretched across her bed to snatch the device from her side table, first checking the time – 10:28 AM – and then her email and text messages. Once she was caught up on everything that had happened while she slept, Tori threw off her covers and freed herself from her bed, only remembering once her feet hit the floor that she wasn't alone in her apartment.

Assuming Jade would still be sleeping, Tori took her time changing her clothes, brushing her tangled hair back into a ponytail, and making her bed, before a familiar smell drifted into her room and carried her out. Next to the stove, Jade was bent over the counter top, looking out the window while something sizzled in a pan on the stove. Her hair was slightly damp, suggesting she had used Tori's shower once again without permission. The oversized sweatshirt she'd slept in hung off her left shoulder, and she had the sleeves bunched up around her elbows as she absentmindedly made herself breakfast. She immediately noticed Tori's entrance and stared at her, though that was the extent of her reaction, and she soon turned back to the window, casually glancing at the bacon cooking beside her while she devoted the majority of her attention to the mediocre view outside of Tori's apartment.

"Feeling better?" Tori moved cautiously around Jade, crossing through the kitchen to her refrigerator. She removed the half empty carton of orange juice from the top shelf and poured herself a glass while she toyed with the idea of offering Jade some of what remained.

Jade only grunted in response to Tori's question, answering without actual words while she turned off the stove and wrapped her fingers around the pan's handle, though she left it resting on the stove top and twisted her body toward Tori.

"Pour me a glass of that?" It was an order but it came out as a question, and the look the two of them exchanged seemed to acknowledge how odd that was. Tori emptied the carton into Jade's glass and set it next to her, before pushing the cupboard that held her plates open with her elbow, once she spotted the slightly confused look on Jade's face.

"Look…" She started as she dumped the bacon onto a chipped green plate and set the pan in the sink. "I'm sorry about last night. I don't really even know what exactly happened, but it shouldn't have, and I swear I won't embarrass you like that again, if you'll give me another chance." Tori quietly stared at Jade, shocked by her sincere apology to the point that each of her limbs were frozen in place and she couldn't move a muscle. Jade took Tori's silence and emotionless face to mean that she wasn't convinced, and reluctantly gave up one piece of bacon that she held out for Tori to take.

"You don't have to pay me back." Words came out of Tori's mouth that she hadn't planned on saying, but it was too late to take them back. Jade's eyes grew in surprise and she cocked a questioning eyebrow.

"Oh. Then give me my bacon back."

"No! It's _my _bacon!" In spite of Tori's protest, Jade ripped the piece of meat from her hand and stuffed it into her mouth with satisfaction. Gratitude that her guest was at least partly back to acting like her normal self was all that kept Tori from complaining about it.

The two women understood without having said a word that Jade wouldn't be leaving for a while, and so they spent the rest of the day imagining all the different ways they could rid of Hunter and Marcus – Jade's ideas were all violent, of course, though Tori's weren't much better – and arguing over the TV remote, while Jade tried to force Tori to watch a marathon of 1000 Ways to Die, rather than the romance movies playing on the Lifetime Movie Network, which Tori favored instead. After a couple of episodes of Jade's choice, Tori realized she was actually enjoying herself. She hadn't done such a thing around –let alone _with _- Jade in a long time, but at that moment, with just the two of them alone in Tori's apartment, with no need to pretend that they were anything more or less than friends, the feeling bubbling in Tori's stomach was that of happiness. Jade didn't tell her, out of pride, but she could sense Tori's growing interest in the morbid television show she was being forced to watch. The actress was caught not once, but twice, looking at Tori with a smile on her face as she paid more attention to Tori's engrossment in the TV show that was so un-her, than the show itself.

They barely moved from the couch all day, only venturing away from it for the occasional trip to the bathroom, and to retrieve the pizza they'd ordered for dinner. The marathon of 1000 Ways to Die eventually turned into an episode of CSI that Tori had already seen a thousand times, so she took that opportunity to start up a legitimate conversation with Jade, while it seemed safe.

"Would you say that we're friends?" Jade picked a piece of sausage off of her third slice of pizza and popped it into her mouth before she so much as thought about an answer.

"Sure we are. We've always been friends." As she spoke, Jade settled more comfortably into the right side of Tori's couch, stretching her legs out so that her feet dangled over the edge just inches from Tori's knees. "Maybe not best friends, but like…you know when there's a group of friends and there's that one person that the rest of the group doesn't really like that much? That person is you."

"_Nuh uh_. I'm pretty sure it's you." Tori joked, grinning as she bit off the end of another slice of sausage and pepperoni pizza.

"It is not." Jade spat, feigning offense. "Alright, to be fair… maybe it's Robbie. Or Rex, if we're going to count him separately…"

"I can agree with that." Jade was silent for a moment, absentmindedly staring at Greg and Sara investigating a dead body on the TV.

"So all those bruises you gave me," Tori started, "and the insults, and that time you pushed me off a building, and the time you told my senior prom date that I had mono, and the time you poured coffee on me, and all those times you _specifically told me_ 'I'm not your friend' and 'I don't like you' were just you being _friendly_?"

"Yes." They simultaneously burst into laughter, which transcended the next few seconds, before they fell back into silence that Jade chose to end a moment later with a comment Tori didn't expect from her. "I actually…I'm sorry about the bruises and the coffee…but the mono thing was funny."

"Are you actually apologizing?" Tori's voice showed just how surprised she was by Jade's apology, though she'd meant to sound like she didn't believe a word the girl had said.

"No." The word slipped out of her mouth while the rest of her face remained unmoving. She paused for a moment, but Tori didn't move either. "I lied. We're not friends and I still hate you."

"Good." Tori teased, throwing in an eye roll for good measure. "We wouldn't want that to change."

Jade went home soon after her apology, leaving Tori to make a few phone calls and go to bed early. A couple hours after sunrise, she met with James over coffee to discuss what she should expect over the next few months, if the LG commercial had as big of an impact as they were hoping it would. With fingers crossed, she left her manager and spent the rest of the day in and out of some more formal meetings. She only spoke to Jade once - which had become somewhat rare, as they'd spent the last week and a half texting each other ideas and questions, in order to make their relationship more believable - when she responded to a text message about the two auditions the actress had that week, which meant she wouldn't have much time to spend on their little charade. Tori didn't mind – her week was busy too. For both of them, it went by extremely slowly. One day melted into the next, but the giant puddle of meetings, performances, and phone calls seemed to span much longer than the five days it actually had.

By the time Friday evening came, Tori was completely burnt out. She had no desire to do anything but lie on her couch watching reruns until she fell asleep, but when her sister called her, Tori couldn't say no. They met at a small café near the mall closest to Tori's apartment building, but Trina's relentless complaining had led to the owner _kindly_ suggesting that they take their drinks to go.

When the sun was starting to go down, they'd walked through the mall a total of six times, with Trina talking non-stop about every tiny inconvenience in her life for close to an hour before Tori could butt in and ask if they could move the life story to her apartment instead. Trina agreed, and Tori reluctantly took her sister back to her place, knowing she probably wouldn't be getting rid of her for a while. At least with Trina talking as much as she was, without giving Tori a chance to tell her what had been going on in _her_ life, she didn't have to bother trying to explain the Jade thing to her self-absorbed older sister. Instead, she mixed a couple drinks for the two of them, making sure to put less alcohol in Trina's glass, as she was getting irritating enough already.

Fifteen minutes later, when Tori finished the last drops of her drink, she realized she hadn't taken in a single word since she had poured it. She looked up at her sister, who was quiet for once, staring at Tori like she expected her to say something in response. The singer opened her mouth, but was saved from answering by her front door bursting open. For a split second she was relieved, but that relief quickly morphed into surprise.

"_Honey_, I'm_ home!"_ Jade's lighthearted, yet somehow incredibly obnoxious voice echoed through the apartment as she stepped inside, appearing from behind the wall lining the entryway, wearing a playful smile which quickly disappeared. Her nose wrinkled when she saw Trina sitting at the counter, but she ignored her and raised an eyebrow at Tori, rather than verbally question the company the girl was keeping.

"_Jade."_ Tori growled, glancing at her sister with a confused look on her face before she stepped away from the counter top and acknowledged her uninvited guest.

"The door wasn't even closed all the way. Don't look at me like that." She finally made eye contact with Tori's sister, staring Trina down without blinking for nearly ten seconds before the older one looked away uncomfortably.

"Which one of my neighbor's keeps buzzing you in anyway?"

"The guy in 3C is almost _always _expecting a pizza." Jade answered, turning from Trina to Tori, who she aimed an incredibly believable smile at, though Tori knew it wasn't genuine.

"What are _you _doing here?" The older Vega sister finally spoke up. She stepped back from the counter with her glass in hand, and held it out for her sister to refill. Tori reluctantly took it from her, but didn't move. She stared at Jade instead, her eyes growing wide as she realized what her faux girlfriend was probably going to say.

"Aww, did your baby sister not tell you?" Before she had a chance to explain, Tori grabbed her by the shoulder and started to pull her away from the kitchen.

"Jade, can I talk to you in my room for a second?"

"You sure can." She wiggled an eyebrow at Tori and willingly followed her into the bedroom, leaving a puzzled Trina to stand in the kitchen alone. Just as Tori closed the door behind her, Jade started looking around the room, her smile gone. Standing with her back to the wall for a second, Tori was too confused by what Jade was doing to reprimand her right away.

"I wasn't going to tell my sister just yet…" She mumbled, as Jade snatched an old credit card statement from the top of Tori's dresser and picked up the pen sitting beside it. She pressed it to the wall and started writing something on the back as she spoke.

"Why, are you embarrassed to be with me?" She held the paper up so Tori could see it. In a barely legible handwriting, it read _"I guarantee your sister is listening in on the other side of that door right now."_ Tori nodded, knowing Jade was right. She moved to the other side of the room and sat down on her bed.

"No," Tori played along, "that's not it at all."

"Then what's the big deal?" Jade sounded irritated as she scribbled on the sheet of paper again, and Tori wasn't quite sure if it was because she was putting on a show for Trina, or was really just that annoyed. Her facial expression when she held the sheet up hinted toward the latter.

"_We have to tell her we're in a relationship. You can't tell her the truth." _Tori shook her head violently, panicking at the thought of how her sister would react.

"I'm just not ready to tell her yet."

"The longer you wait, the harder it'll be. I'm sure your family will be supportive." Jade scribbled angrily in the corner of the paper when her pen started running out of ink, and then started another sentence. "They love you." She assured Tori, hesitating before sneering at the other girl and adding, in a much softer voice, "Like I do." A stifled gasp came from the other side of the door, and Tori tried not to laugh, clapping her hand over her mouth as she read Jade's latest note.

"_As far as everybody else is concerned, you and I are in a REAL relationship. You can't tell anybody the truth, EVER. If it gets out, it will ruin us both."_

"Really?" That lesson Sikowitz had taught a few years before about subtext came to mind as Tori asked her disappointed question in a happy tone of voice. Ironically, she'd been playing the role of someone in love with Jade then too.

"Of course." Jade answered easily. She crumpled the paper and threw it back onto Tori's dresser. "Now are you going to tell her, or am I going to have to convince you in other ways?" She turned her eyes toward the door, but the slight smile on her face was directed at Tori.

"What kind of other ways?" She was obviously uncomfortable, but if it meant messing with her pest of an older sister, Tori was willing to keep playing along.

_"Naked_ ways." Jade answered her loudly as she fell backward onto the bed, spreading her arms out just far enough to grab a hold of one of Tori's belt loops.

"How naked?" The songstress teased at an equal volume, slapping Jade's hand away. She pulled out her phone and checked the clock, deciding it was time to tell Trina the false version of the truth, despite how badly she wanted to avoid it.

_"Really_ naked."

"…Why don't you save that nudity for later." Tori smiled wearily at Jade and pointed at the door. With a silent nod, Jade stood up to follow her. "We have to tell Trina before she leaves."

When Tori opened the bedroom door, her sister was sprawled awkwardly across the couch, trying to look like she'd been lying there the whole time. She smiled nervously at her little sister, and sat up straight.

"You know," she said as she stood up to leave, "I really should get going. I've got a big date tomorrow and I still have to take a bath. I got some of those exfoliating-"

"Trina." Tori interrupted her sister before she could make any more excuses to go. "We have something to tell you... It'll only take a second, and then you can go take your..._exfoliating bath_ in peace.

"Is this really necessary?" She groaned, taking her seat on the couch again. With a quick glance at Jade, who stared back at her with a studded eyebrow raised, Tori sat on the edge of her rarely-used recliner and looked down into her lap before opening her mouth.

"Jade is here because..." She coughed, and as a last resort, looked at Jade one more time, silently begging the girl to let her tell her sister the _real _truth. Jade only gestured with a flick of her head for Tori to continue. With a sigh, she spit it all out in one piece. "because we're dating."

Trina stared across the coffee table, looking both confused and shocked, despite having listened in on the conversation in the bedroom. Her mouth fell open and her head tilted to the right. Eyes moving back and forth between the two women in front of her, Trina moved her lips a few times before words even started to come out.

"But you're...and she's...huh?"

"Yeah, we get that it's hard for you to wrap your small mind around, but it's true." Jade snapped impatiently. Tori glared at her, but tried to reprimand her pretend girlfriend in a way that wouldn't give Trina reason to doubt them.

"Jade, she's my sister. Come on."

"Sorry." She mumbled something about not believing they were related, but Tori ignored her and focused on the confused woman in front of her instead.

"I know it's kind of...weird... I mean, we never really got along in high school, but over the past few years we've grown a lot closer, and..." Her eyes moved back to Jade as she paused. "Well now we're...together." Trina just stared at her, squinting her eyes while her mouth still hung open. "Trina? I...are you okay with this, or..." Tori mumbled, glancing at Jade again, this time with a worried look on her face when her sister didn't respond. Jade rested her hand on Tori's shoulder and knelt down beside her so she could be level with the two sisters. "I'm still me... I'm your sister. Nothing's changed, even if I am...uhh..._dating someone who is the same gender as me..."_

"Your sister's a lesbian Trina. Get over it." Tori reached over and smacked Jade hard on the side of the head, all the while smiling and ignoring the dirty look she earned in response.

"No, that's not... Sorry, I just... I got the most _awful _mental picture of you two just now, and I..." With a shudder, Trina looked directly at her younger sibling with a much more loving facial expression than she'd been wearing previously. "I don't care about _that_. Date who you want to date. It's _your_ life." She shrugged like it was hardly worth her time to talk about it, and happily chirped, "Besides, that just leaves more guys for me."

"Uhh...right." Tori mumbled as the older girl stood up and moved toward the door.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with one of those guys tomorrow and I still haven't decided what I'm gonna wear." With that, she grabbed her bag, said goodbye, and left the apartment, leaving her sister still sitting in the recliner, somewhat numb from the confusing experience she'd just had, while, from her spot on the floor beside her, Jade tried her hardest not to laugh, and failed.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Greetings once again. I got way more of this written this past week than I'd planned, so here's another chapter. Let me know if you like it. :) Or if you hate it. Hopefully you won't.**_

* * *

><p>"What just happened?" Jade questioned Trina's unexpected reaction to learning of her younger sister's new relationship, but she didn't seem even half as surprised or confused as Tori did. When the girl didn't immediately answer, Jade then stood up, only to sit down with an unexpected amount of force in Tori's lap a second later. She tried to push her away, but Jade put up a fight and managed to keep the singer held down in her recliner for a full minute.<p>

"I have _no_ idea." Tori grunted, finally squeezing out from underneath the actress. She moved all the way to the kitchen to be safe, where she'd left the two glasses, and set Trina's in the sink before she refilled her own, thinking out loud the whole time.

"You don't think she's going to tell my parents, do you? I mean, she doesn't really see them that often... They don't really even likeher that much... But it's Trina, she'll probably go tell everyone. Oh God. What if she _does _tell them? What will I- That could be a good thing though, right? If Trina tells them I won't have to, and they probably won't be as shocked by the time I finally talk to them. It'll totally be fine. They're not gonna freak out or anything. They won't care." Completely ignoring everything Tori had said, Jade helped herself to a glass from the cupboard, stealing the bottle of rum that had already been retrieved from the fridge and using it to fill her glass halfway, before taking a sip without even bothering to mix it with anything. Tori stared at her with a rather judgmental look on her face, but didn't question it.

"Your sister totally pictured us doing it." Before the words were even all the way out of Jade's mouth, Tori clapped both of her hands to her ears and squeezed her eyes shut.

"_Don't say that!_" Tori's face scrunched up and turned red, but she eventually let go when Jade only laughed in response. She reached for her drink with one hand, leaving the other pressed to the side of her head while her eyes fluttered open. "I don't want to thinkabout my sister...thinking about _anybody _having sex. _Especially _you and I." Jade was silent for a moment, smiling into her drink. She took another couple sips, and then reached for the bottle of soda still sitting on the counter next to Tori, so that she could dilute her drink a little bit - a pointless effort, as she only added some more rum a moment later.

"Do _you_ ever think about it?"

"What?" She stared at Jade with wide eyes, more surprise coming from the fact that she could still be shocked by the things that came from the actress' mouth, than the question itself.

"Do you ever think about having sex with me?" She repeated the question slowly, studying Tori's face as it turned bright red once again and gave away the answer. "It's okay if you do." Jade assured her with a smile. "We all do it."

"Uhh...do what? I don't..."

"Fantasize about our friends once in a while. Or complete strangers..." She took another drink and licked her lips. "People we hate." She was finding a lot of enjoyment in the site of Tori squirming under her words, though Jade was keeping a straight face, which made it even harder for her rather simple-minded friend to be able to tell that she was only messing with her.

"I don't...I wouldn't call it _fantasizing_."

"But you do think about it?" She grinned at her hostess before the girl could defend herself any further.

"I...maybe once, for like, half a second- _shut up! ..._What are you doing here anyway? Are you _ever _going to tell me when you're coming over or are you just gonna keep showing up uninvited?" Tori downed the rest of her drink and set the glass in the sink next to her sister's used one, taking her time turning around, as she was still burning with embarrassment.

"What, a girl can't just visit her favorite girlfriend when she wants to?"

"_Fake _girlfriend." Tori reminded her, looking over her shoulder for a moment before she started to wash her dishes.

"The fake was implied." Jade assured her, as she stood up and moved closer, into the space behind Tori. She placed her white hands on the dishwasher's shoulders from behind for just a second, before she was pushed away.

"Okay," Jade complained, "I know this sucks and neither one of us really wants to have to do this, but I owe you, and you need me, and... Well, we have to be convincing. This relationship is _real_, okay?" Tori turned around, but only stared at her. "I mean, we've gone out for dinner a couple times now, I went to that _stupid _party with you, you're _calling me your girlfriend..._ We _are_ dating, technically. You don't have to like someone to date them. The feelings don't exist but the relationship does, right? It has to, for this to work. You can't tell anyone that we're 'not really dating' because eventually...well, I..." She paused, showing obvious discomfort as her face and tone softened, "I _do_ think you'll be famous someday...and you know what fame does to people. Even your closest friends and family won't be able to resist selling you out for a piece of it, and I can't have that. I can't - and you can't - have that kind of reputation in this town. I won't be known as a fraud... so this relationship is real. There's no room for it not to be. You're my girlfriend, and I am yours, and that's just how it has to be, okay?" Tori nodded, but before she could say anything, Jade continued her rant.

"I'm definitely not saying that you have to pretend when there's no one around to see it. I'm not going to kiss you or touch you or even look at you like I can _stand_ to hear you talk when we're alone, but that doesn't mean we're not together." She paused again, and Tori was afraid that if she spoke, she'd be interrupted again. They were both quiet for a split second.

"Taking over for me, are you?" Once she felt as if she were allowed to, Tori questioned Jade with a teasing smile.

"Well _you're _doing a really shitty job running things. Someone has to do it."

"Uhh...Thank you?" Jade nodded with an annoyed expression on her face and was silent for a minute.

"I guess now would be the time to tell you I cheated on you then..." Tori's eyebrows shot up and she felt offended for a portion of a second, but it wore off and she sat back down on her bar stool with a concerned look on her face, waiting for Jade to explain.

"I just... after I left here on Sunday I got into that _'oh god what did I get myself into?'_ mindset and I went to the restaurant and he was there and he gave me free wine and I stayed until closing and we drank the whole bottle together and I just...I went home with him and the next thing I knew we were having sex on his kitchen counter and I..." Tori reached out and took Jade's nearly empty glass from her before she had the chance to get herself into more trouble with her drug of choice. "It was _completely_ insane...but afterwards I just felt kind of bad about it.._. _Mostly because I know how he feels about me and I don't feel the same way anymore, but also because of this whole...relationship. I wasn't sure if we had some kind of rule about that sort of thing, or if that actually counts as cheating, but it wasn't a good idea either way, so...now you know. Your personal opinion does not _matter_, but I'm sorry anyway."

"Well...ummm...thanks for telling me, then." Tori mumbled. "You're forgiven. I guess."

"And with what I said earlier... we probably _should _have a rule about that. I mean...if we're in a relationship, it should be a committed one, even if it isn't exactly..._romantic._ That way neither of us will be tempted, and...it'll just be easier to pull this all off." At that, Tori's whole face went blank. She combed her hair back with her fingers and was quiet for a few seconds, until a frown crossed her face and she finally returned her attention to Jade.

"That makes sense. You're right."

"No more of that idiot from the party." Jade could tell right away that Tori was hesitant to agree with her because of Noah, though she didn't have the slightest clue why Tori liked him at all. She obviously did, however, because she didn't say another word and swallowed the remaining few drops of Jade's confiscated drink, rather than respond in any sort of verbal way.

"You don't seriously like him...?" Giving her a chance to redeem herself, Jade asked her one simple question. Tori failed to answer correctly.

"I really do."

"Well, doesn't he know about us?" Suddenly on the defensive, Tori gave Jade a rather displeased look, before she spit out,

"_No_. I haven't exactly made a point of telling him. I like him, and he likes me. What am I supposed to say? "I really like you. By the way, Jade isn't actually my best friend, she's the person who screws my brains out every night because _I'm a lesbian._"

"_Every_ night?" Jade asked with a smirk, completely ignoring everything else Tori had said.

"God, Jade_._"

"I bet you say that a lot, don't you?" She winked, getting a loud groan in exchange. Tori turned away and moved back to the living room, sitting down on the couch with a loud _thump_. She looked close to tears, and that was all it took to pluck Jade's usually frozen heartstrings.

"Alright, _fine." _She unenthusiastically sat down beside her girlfriend, rolling her eyes before she finally spit out a few more words. "You can date him." Tori looked up with wide eyes in a second. "_But..._you can't tell him what we're doing. We won't be together _that _much longer, so I guess...if you can keep the dumbass under that rock he lives beneath for a while, I won't have a problem with it. But _don't _kiss him in public or anything, okay? You don't need a reputation for being a cheater, and I don't want to look like an idiot who lets herself be treated that way."

"Are you serious?" Tori gasped happily, pulling her legs up onto the couch with her as she turned to face Jade with a cautious smile.

"Are _you _serious? Would I really have just said all that if I didn't mean it?"

"Yes." Tori answered her without a second thought. Jade's eyes nearly rolled into the back of her head.

"Well you can take my word for it." She paused for just a moment, before a disgusting thought wormed its way into her mind. "But if he does find out, I am _not _having a threesome with you. Just so that's clear." Incredibly relieved, Tori only laughed and threw her arms around Jade, who sat stiff as a board on the couch, surprised by the future pop star's reaction. "_Vega._" Tori didn't let go. "You're welcome, now get off me!"

"Thank you so much." Tori squeaked happily. "I will be _so _secretive about this. Nobody will have a clue - not even him. It might not even turn into anything, but..." She looked down into her lap as her voice trailed off. "Well, thanks anyway." With that said, she stood up another time and went back to the kitchen to retrieve her cell phone, which she'd left on the counter.

"_You, _on the other hand... No more Beck. Stop doing that to yourself. _And to him." _Jade sighed dramatically, feeling a lecture coming on. "If you need an incentive to keep him out of your pants, then I'll be that for you." She started to smile, but cut herself off right away in order to add one more thing. "...And stop drinking. Just stop. It really isn't doing good things for you."

"_I know." _The actress grumbled loudly. "I swear, I _don't_ have an alcohol problem. I usually don't even like to drink - it makes me feel...like I don't have control of anything...and I watched it destroy my family, and I just...I hate it, but these last few months have just been so awful, I needed something. It was either that or illicit drugs, so I don't think I made _too_ bad of a decision."Tori stared at her uncomfortably and didn't say anything. "That was a joke."

"Right." She mumbled, struggling with putting together words to comfort her fake lover. "Well, you're my friend - my _girl_friend, I guess - so I'll help you out. And you'll get everything figured out soon enough. Things will get better."

"Yeah, umm, that's actually why I came over in the first place. I really think everything's starting to turn around. You know that audition I had this morning?" Tori nodded, a slight smile appearing as she realized what Jade was about to tell her. "Well, I got the part."

"What? That's so awesome!" She resisted the urge to hug Jade, as she'd already forced enough affection on the girl for one day.

"Before I even finished reading for it they just stopped me and told me I had the part! This is a Jamie Torrance film, Tori. Do you have any idea who that is?" She quickly answered herself. "Of course you don't. Torrance is like...the modern day _king_ of the horror genre. He directed some of my all time favorite movies, and now I get to work with him. I feel like I _must _be dreaming. It's so unreal. I've wanted a part like this for so long."

"What's your part like?" That exact moment had to be the happiest Tori had ever seen Jade, her smile was gigantic and she was squealing like a little girl - she couldn't keep it in.

"Well, it's not a _huge_ part. I mean, she's an important character, but I probably won't have a ton of screen time. Still, though, this is a giant step up from that skank bartender." She held her hair back from her face with one hand and fanned herself with the other. "I think I'm going to pass out. It just really hit me how huge this is." Tori immediately rushed to the kitchen for a glass of water, asking upon her return,

"When do you start filming?"

"The end of next month, in Chicago. Nothing is completely set, but that's when they were hoping."

"Great." Tori sat down on her sofa beside Jade once again. "The label does this big music festival thing in Santa Barbara every spring, featuring everyone they've signed in the last year. It's a pretty big deal, and that's the weekend after next. I was thinking you'd come with me. We would drive up Thursday night, and then the festival is Friday night and all day Saturday, so we could just come back Sunday afternoon maybe. I mean, it's a music festival in _Santa Barbara. _It could be really fun, right? And it'll be just before you leave for the movie, so it could be kind of a going away party." Jade stared and gave no answer. She didn't seem very interested in the idea.

"And the label is paying for everything..." Immediately, she changed her mind, agreeing with a great smile.

"Sounds like fun."

...

Early the next week, with arms weighted with multiple grocery bags hanging from them, Tori nudged her door open with her hip. It swung open and, to no one's surprise, Jade was lying on the ground in front of the TV. Her head was resting against the lowered foot rest and her hands were gently placed over her stomach while she peacefully watched the television, from which came a horrible groaning sound.

"_What_ are you doing?" Tori asked with caution. She set the grocery bags on the counter, one by one, and turned toward her living room. The back of the TV faced her, and the horribly fake moaning continued. "Are you watching _porn _on my TV?"

"_No." _Jade answered with a degree of disgust, "Get your ears checked. That woman is getting _no _sexual satisfaction out of being cut in half with a hacksaw, Tori."

"Well it _sounded_ like she was." The intruder's smile quickly neutralized the scowl she'd received, so returning to the kitchen, Tori began the process of putting away her groceries, with no offer of help from her uninvited guest, of course.

"No. That was just me. _Thinking about you._" When Tori turned around, her unusually vivacious counterfeit girlfriend was staring at her. Once she had the irritated singer's attention, she licked her lips and winked, adding without any hesitation, "I'm _so_ glad you're home."

"Quit being weird." Tori snapped at her. "And shut that off." Jade did as she was told for once, and forced herself up onto her feet, wandering into the kitchen to stand at one end of the island to watch Tori store her freshly bought food.

"_Relax_, Tori. I'm just messing with you. Can't you ever just play along?" Her smile wasn't quite as big when Tori turned to her and kept scowling. "Alright, what's your problem? Usually you just turn the color of a tomato and ignore me."

"My _problem _is that you're _irritating_. And you keep breaking into my apartment!"

"My cable isn't working." Jade explained with a shrug. Tori only glared at her. "Look, if I have to pretend to love you, you can pretend to be okay with me being in your apartment. Girlfriends share their cable, Tori. And their food. I hope you got some more bread." The loud groan that erupted from Tori's chest suggested that she hadn't.

"Why are you in such an awful mood? _You're _supposed to be the annoyingly happy one."

"Like I said, because of _you._" With a pop, Tori ripped open a bag of chips before even taking them out of the grocery bag. She stuffed a few in her mouth, swallowed, and then explained, "That commercial is airing during America Sings tonight, so I'm going to my parents' house tonight to watch it, only Trina told them about you and they called me pretty much right after you left, but I know they're going to keep asking about it, and I would really rather not worry about it any more than I already _do_." On the last word, she yanked open the cupboard that held her glasses. The door slammed against the one next to it with a loud crack, which Tori ignored as she filled a tall glass with some water from her refrigerator.

"Well I'm coming with you." Jade stated almost immediately. Tori swallowed half of her glass and sat down on a bar stool, not bothering to put away the last two bags of groceries.

"No you're not."

"Yes I am! What kind of girlfriend would I be if I wasn't watching this commercial with you?"

"A less annoying one." An eye roll and annoyed smile accompanied more of Jade's protesting.

"Well I'm going anyway."

"What's your motive?" Tori knew how unusual it was for Jade to want to put any effort into something she had basically been forced into, but the girl wouldn't give in. She only smiled and shook her head, as if she had no idea what Tori was talking about.

"_Fine_. I have to pick up Andre on the way there, so we should probably get going soon." With a sharp nod, Jade agreed, stepping back from the counter before she aimed another creepy smile Tori's way.

Half an hour later, the two of them pulled up to the curb outside of the duplex Andre was currently living in, and Tori put the car in park. Wringing her hands, she nervously glanced at herself in the rear view mirror, and then turned her attention to her passenger.

"I have to tell him before we get to my parents' house. ...I didn't really plan ahead. He's my best friend - I should have told him before I even asked you, but we've both been so busy, and I just-"

"It's _good_ you didn't tell him," Jade assured her. "You would have told Andre the truth, and then we would have a problem." Tori frowned, discouraged. She still didn't want to lie to her family and her closest friends, but Jade had been right. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, but she just couldn't afford to tell them the real truth, just in case.

"Are you _sure _I can't even tell _Andre?"_ Jade only nodded, tired of having to explain to Tori why she absolutely couldn't let it slip to _anybody. _

Andre's front door opened, and Tori started to panic. She beat on the console with the palms of both her hands.

"He's coming. How do I tell him? What do I say?" Jade bit down on her lip and thought about it for a second, as Andre walked down the sidewalk. Hardly a second later, Tori's heart jumped out of her chest when Jade grabbed her by the shoulders and smashed their mouths together. Her heartbeat hadn't slowed any, but she'd calmed down just enough to react in a convincing way, wrapping her arms around Jade's neck as she pulled Tori closer to the passenger's side.

The back door opened and the actresses pulled apart when Andre started to climb in. Tori didn't have to fake being embarrassed, but Jade simply turned back to the front, facing the window to avoid looking at Andre. He seemed surprised, but not as much as he'd been expected to.

"I didn't know this was _that _kind of party." He commented with a laugh, closing the door behind him.


	10. Chapter 10

Tori drove the rest of the way to her childhood home with a face so red, it was bordering on purple. She explained to Andre that she'd been secretly seeing Jade for a couple of months, but had been too afraid to tell anyone until recently. He seemed to believe her, but he reacted a little too nonchalantly for Tori's taste. It worried her a little when he said he wasn't all that surprised. Jade laughed at that comment but kept staring out the window, and Tori's eyes remained on the road, as she tried to convince herself that he'd meant he wasn't surprised because he knew how easy it was to fall for Jade - not that it wasn't a comment about his misreadings of Tori's _real _relationship with the girl, prior to their scheming.

When the car stopped in the driveway, Tori had calmed herself down considerably, only to grow nauseous at the thought of her parents questioning her about her little lifestyle change, or worse - questioning _Jade _about it. Telling herself with each step that Jade wasn't stupid enough to embarrass her again, Tori led the group to the front door, opening it only to be surprised by an empty living room. She stepped inside anyway, looking around the deserted room in confusion. Andre immediately made his way to the kitchen, where an assortment of snacks were spread across the counter top. He helped himself to a handful of trail mix, shoving half of it into his mouth before he even looked at Tori.

"What?" He asked, "This stuff is _good!_" Andre had managed, yet again, to cheer Tori up without even trying. She laughed at him and her heart rate finally slowed down, just as her mother walked into the room.

"Oh! You're here!" She grinned at her daughter and then called over her shoulder, "Honey! They're here!" Seconds later, Mr. Vega appeared through the same door his wife had come from, with a rather serious expression on his face in comparison to hers.

Tori's mother invited the three visitors to help themselves to the snack food, noticing, of course, that Andre already had. She followed that offer with another, to take a seat on the couch. Meanwhile, her husband stood near the counter, staring at Jade. Glancing back and forth between the two of them, Tori's stomach bubbled.

"You remember what I do for a living, right?" He tried to look threatening as he questioned his daughter's girlfriend, much to Tori's mortification.

"Dad!"

"Yes, sir, I do." Jade answered very sweetly, especially for her. Tori could tell when Jade reached for her hand that he'd actually managed to scare her a little. Her fingers were slightly clammy -bordering on sweaty, even - and her skin was starting to turn red.

"Good. Remember that while you take some trail mix. My wife made too much."

"No she didn't!" Andre called, helping himself to an overflowing bowl of it, just as the door opened again and Trina stalked in. All the voices flying around her started getting to Tori, and that, combined with the nervousness she'd brought with her, were quickly becoming a little too much. She wanted to lie down on the floor and cry.

Instead, Jade pulled her into the kitchen, pressing herself up against Tori's back as the girl stood up near the countertop, shakily helping herself to some chips before reaching for the spoon sticking out of the french onion dip.

"What exactly have you told your parents about me?" Resting her chin on Tori's shoulder, Jade whispered into Tori's hair, with her arms wrapped tightly around the girl's torso in order to disguise their conversation. "Do they think I'm some kind of demon or should I just ignore the fact that your dad kind of threatened me?"

"Believe it or not," Tori answered, twisting around so she could face the usually fearless, though strangely frightened woman behind her, "I never really told them that much."

"You're not lying?" Tori glanced at her family and Andre, already seated around the TV, and snapped her head back to Jade when she noticed they were all staring. They surely thought that the two of them were being inappropriately flirty, when that was far from the truth.

"No. Just be nice and you'll be fine, scaredy cat. He's just messing with you." Jade's face flushed pink as she pulled away from Tori.

"I'm not scared." She was obviously embarrassed, but Tori let an opportunity to get her back for all the teasing she'd been doing lately slide, in favor of retrieving her chips from the countertop behind her. "I'm just a little worried he'll see right through us...with his job and all..."

"Act like you love me and he'll have no reason to." Tori whispered happily before she led the way back to the living room, feeling in charge for the first time in weeks.

Falling into the corner of the sofa, Tori curled up with her chips in her lap, and Jade uncomfortably sat down between her and Andre with a handful of trail mix she'd stolen from the poor guy's bowl upon passing him. She placed a salty m&m on her tongue and leaned against Tori, trying to look like she actually cared for the girl as Mr. Vega studied her from the other section of the sofa, across from them. He seemed to be in an unusually malicious mood, and Jade began to wonder if he treated all of Tori's boyfriends this way, or if it was _her_ that he disapproved of.

As Trina yapped incessantly about how badly her date the previous Saturday had gone, everyone ignored her. Mrs. Vega, at least, kept mumbling in agreement, though it was obvious she was watching her other daughter more, as was her husband, obviously. Andre sat with his bowl of trail mix heavily guarded, now that he knew Jade was a threat to the homemade snack he'd loved ever since he'd first started coming to Tori's house as a little sixteen year old. Now, the twenty-one year old man loved the snack food even more, but his relationship with Tori hadn't changed. They were still the best of friends, and probably always would be, but as adults, they'd found that they had less time to spend with each other. Tori had only seen him in person twice over the past month, with her job taking up so much of her time. She worried sometimes that her apparent success was getting to him. He'd wanted something like what she was now receiving for so much longer than she had, and he was a million times more talented, she thought. Tori feared that it made him feel inferior, to still be unsigned after all this time while she had gotten there so much more quickly. She didn't quite know how to talk to him about it though, so she never mentioned it and pretended that it wasn't an issue.

Andre's trouble getting what he'd wanted so badly convinced Tori that she was doing the right thing for herself. She wanted it too, and if she backed out now, it was highly likely that she'd never get it again. It was only one little part of herself that she was changing. It really wasn't that big a deal. Forcing herself into a homosexual relationship with a girl who had hated her from the very day she'd met her seemed like a small price to pay when she looked at Andre. If - _when -_ she made it big, she would help him get what he deserved.

"It's starting!" Tori was jolted from her thoughts by the sound of her mother's excited voice, as the America Sings host's voice came onto the TV. She had never really gotten into the show - not for lack of trying - and had no idea how it worked, but Jade, to some degree of surprise, was a big fan of the program, and started explaining it to Tori as the host introduced the judges and went over what had happened in the previous week. Tori snuggled up against Jade, who put her arm around Tori as she told her about the contestants, making sure to add which ones she hated and thought were talentless idiots, which ones she hated but thought had a small chance of making it after the show ended, and which two she sort of liked and _knew _would be the finalists. Mrs. Vega agreed with her completely, and Tori fell into a conscious dream state as her mother and her temporary girlfriend started discussing the show in front of her. They were getting along well - _Jade _was actually getting along with another human being. Tori couldn't quite tell if it was genuine, or if the actress was only following her advice, but it seemed very strange to her either way, even more so than the way that Tori felt so comfortable in Jade's arms. She was so much softer than all the boys Tori had cuddled with on this very couch. There were no bulky muscles or prickly facial hair, and Jade did not smell of sweat or horrible cologne, which was a major plus side. She'd noticed earlier that the actress had taken her advice from the dressing room weeks before, as her lips were now much softer than all of those boys' had been. Her mouth had even tasted like cherries. That was something she'd never experienced with a boy. Almost all of them had tasted like bad steak or something equally unappetizing.

The first segment of the show ended and it faded into a commercial, prompting the whole room to go quiet. A Taco Bell one played, followed by a Best Buy ad, a cheesy Kay Jewelers commercial, and then one for Nationwide insurance. The show then came back, but everyone remained completely silent, until Jade's least favorite contestant performed and they all vocally agreed that the woman was awful and talentless. Following a few awkward glances at Trina, they grew silent once again, while the judges all ripped into the contestant and she started getting defensive, yelling at them and making herself look like a crazy fool.

After this, the program parted for another commercial break. This time, adverts for Purina Puppy Chow, Target, and the latest Bradley Cooper movie played, but still no LG. By this point in the show, everyone was already getting impatient. Jade got up to use the bathroom and missed over five minutes, leaving Tori in the living room with her family. The show was all that kept them from asking about Jade, as it obviously still didn't quite make sense to them that their daughter could possibly be in love with a girl who had poured coffee on her head and made her want to quit school on her very first day.

Andre made a couple comments about the third performer's eccentric outfit, causing everyone to laugh, but even his jokes didn't prevent it from being incredibly awkward. Tori found herself thinking about how thankful she was that Jade had come with her, or else the entire visit would have turned out this way.

When her missing half returned and squeezed back into the space beside her, it put Tori at ease almost immediately, much to her surprise. She blamed her exhaustion, but she knew it was a combination of Jade's toned down portrayal of herself and the fact that the two of them really _had_ grown closer over the past couple weeks.

Just over halfway through the program, another commercial break came, this time opening with a Hoarders promo, followed by the LG ad they'd all been waiting for so patiently. The second it started the room went completely silent. Tori wasn't breathing, and it seemed like everyone else was holding their breath too. Three or four seconds of the instrumental part of the song played, and then Tori's distinctive voice echoed from the flat screen television's speakers. She sat with wide eyes, leaning forward in her seat as a montage of people using the latest smartphone played under the sound of her song. It lasted just barely thirty seconds, but when it ended and moved on seamlessly into a Frontline pet medication commercial, she felt like the queen of the world.

"_Oh my god." _She muttered under her breath, as her family cheered and Jade and Andre both crushed her in a giant hug. Jade was squeezing her a little _too _hard, but something about the feeling of the girl purposely digging her sharp fingernails into Tori's back was relaxing - it was very _her_.

"Pretty sure you're the most famous person in this room now." Andre said with a laugh as he returned to his now empty bowl of trail mix.

"But only until my movie comes out. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna win an Oscar for that part." Jade joked as she gave Tori another -more gentle - hug, surprising both the accomplished songstress and her best friend, who was obviously taking note of Jade's unusually happy attitude.

The show came back on, but nobody was paying attention anymore. Jade told Tori's curious parents about both her bartender role and her upcoming one, while Trina spoke over everyone and thought out loud about how she might consider auditioning for the next season of America Sings. Everyone stopped what they were doing for a moment to talk her out of that, but it didn't phase her. She simply stood up and went off to the restroom, singing loudly - and terribly - as she went.

Andre told a couple funny stories about some patrons in the coffee shops he'd been singing in the last couple weeks, and Tori suggested that he talk to Beck, to see if he would be willing to use him as live entertainment in his restaurant. Jade went quiet at the sound of her ex's name, but her awkward silence was soon ended by her anger, when the show finished with the judges voting off one of the contestants she liked, rather than the obnoxious and untalented Trina-esque woman. She couldn't contain her disappointment over their decision and was still mad about it when she left with Tori and Andre half an hour later.

While Jade sat pouting in the car, the other two sang along to the radio, both of them in better moods than they had been on the car ride in the opposite direction. The song ended and faded into an overplayed Enrique Iglesias song that the two friends hated, so Tori turned the radio down, giving Andre the chance to ask something he'd been wondering ever since he'd got in the car.

"So you guys really are together? Like...for real?"

"Of course." Tori answered right away. "Why would we lie about that?" Andre was silent for a second and Tori cringed at the thought of how awkward she'd just sounded.

"I guess you wouldn't. Just kind of a surprise, I guess. You guys never did get along, but hey, why question a little lady lovin'? If you two want to make out in public, be my guest." Tori quickly peered over her shoulder to give Andre a disapproving look, managing to cross the center line by a couple of inches before Jade reached over and grabbed the wheel, straightening it out before Tori could even react.

"Eyes on the road, babe. You're a terrible driver as it is." She gave Tori an obnoxious smile as she took in the sight of the girl's embarrassed face. They were both quiet for a few seconds, until Tori resumed her conversation with Andre as if it had never been interrupted.

"She's...hot. What can I say?" Andre gave her a knowing smile in the rearview mirror, and Jade smirked at her from the passenger seat, choosing not to comment. Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, Tori stopped the car in front of Andre's house once again. He reached for the door handle, but paused, leaning toward the front seat to say one last thing,

"If you guys wanted to resume making out in here now, nobody would complain."

"_Andre."_ Tori smiled and reached back to push her best friend out of the car. He shut the door behind him and started back up the sidewalk, pausing to turn around and throw one arm into the air, cheering for Tori, who did the same thing inside the car.

"...You really think I'm hot?" Jade questioned with a smile after an awkward moment of silence, once they were back on the road.

"Doesn't everybody?" Tori turned red for the millionth time that day, but Jade only took it as a compliment. The color of her face mimicked Tori's almost perfectly though, which was reason enough to avoid teasing the girl any more than she already had.

"What was that with my parents?" Tori apprehensively brought up what had just happened as she merged onto the interstate.

"What do you mean?" Jade asked, pretending she had no idea. Tori glanced at her with narrowed eyes and turned back to the road, silent for another moment.

"You had an actual conversation with my mom. You made her like you."

"I had to." Her smile returned as Jade tried to defend herself against an accusation that wasn't meant to offend her. "I was just trying to be believable." Tori didn't question Jade's dedication any further, and simply drove her home, checking her phone once she put the car in park alongside the curb. She had one text message from Andre, and she pressed her thumb to the screen of her pear phone while she watched Jade disappear through her front door.

"Seriously Tori?" Was all the message read. She read it four times, confused about what he meant with those two words. She started to ask him, but then another message popped up onto her screen.

"I'm not gonna talk you out of it because I know she's kinda changed, but remember you're a hypocrite." He ended his text message with a winking smiley face, changing the whole tone of the message.

"I know," She texted back, "but you can't blame me."

"I can't. I support this relationship 100%." Tori rolled her eyes and texted back one more thing before shifting the car back into drive.

"Get those dirty thoughts out of your head, boy."

...

The rest of the week - and the weekend - went by rather quickly. Tori didn't have a whole lot to do, as her album was officially completely recorded and many of the business aspects were worked out. On Wednesday, she and Andre saw the Bradley Cooper movie they'd just seen advertised, and he made sure to question her some more about her relationship with Jade - he found the idea of Jade willingly entering into a relationship with Tori just a little too weird to fully believe it quite yet. She bullshitted her way through the entire conversation, and was happy when the previews ended and Andre went quiet.

On Thursday, Tori had a photoshoot, which was both exciting and nerve-wracking. Jade declined an invitation to go with, but they video chatted during Tori's lunch break. The contemptuous performer took that opportunity to make sure Tori knew that she didn't approve of her hairstyle, but she otherwise had relatively nice - for Jade, at least - things to say about her appearance.

She explained to Tori that she'd booked her plane ticket and in less than two weeks, would be leaving for Chicago to start production of her movie. She was beyond excited, but something about the way she smiled made Tori sense a little apprehension, like Jade wasn't quite ready to leave her home for something like this.

"I know we'll be done by the time it comes out," She told her, "and I know that you'll probably wet your pants and run out crying two minutes into the movie, but you're definitely going to see it with me. You have no choice."

"If you hold my hand and let me cover my eyes, I might survive." Tori responded, only realizing that she was genuinely flirting once the words were out of her mouth. Jade didn't seem to mind, and only nodded, before her phone rang and she disconnected without saying goodbye. Tori then went back to work, finishing the photoshoot in less than an hour before going home to her empty apartment.

The following Tuesday, Tori's manager invited her to lunch, insisting that Jade tag along. She didn't want to come, but Tori finally managed to convince her by offering to pay for the meal. Once they found out what restaurant James was taking them to, however, they _both _wished they would have stayed home. Tori tried to talk her altruistic manager into taking them _anywhere _other than Beck's restaurant, insisting that it was too expensive - he assured her that money was not a problem, and he'd be paying for both of them - and trying to convince him that there was an even better restaurant down the street. He disagreed with her and absolutely refused to go anywhere else. Eventually, Tori gave in and dragged her pseudo-significant other, who had gone stiff as a board at the sound of the restaurant's name, into the building. They found a table near the door and prayed that Beck wasn't working that day.

James was completely oblivious to their discomfort, but was very adamant that Tori pick out the photo for her album cover before they left the restaurant, and she was having trouble deciding. Jade put in her two cents, but of course, the one she liked the most was Tori's least favorite. They compromised and chose the only one that they could agree on, but the finality of picking the album cover made Tori feel sick to her stomach. She couldn't bring herself to finish her food, and sat at the table in silence while James and Jade finished their own lunches.

"So you're coming this weekend?" James tried to start up a conversation with Jade when Tori stopped talking. She was watching her oddly silent girlfriend with a slight amount of sincere concern on her face, and almost didn't notice that he was talking to her.

"Yeah," Jade answered absentmindedly. Tori finally looked up at her and she snapped back to reality. "I'm leaving for Chicago next Wednesday. This Thursday's my last shift at work, and I think we're leaving for Santa Barbara after I get off. Right?" She smiled and tightly squeezed Tori's hand, pulling it up onto the table between them. Tori looked confused for a moment, but agreed anyway.

"Uhh, yeah."

"Wonderful." James exclaimed. "I look forward to hearing all about this movie. Maybe we can get Tori on the soundtrack." He winked as his businessman side came out, and Jade laughed uncomfortably, wondering, as she watched Tori eat her lunch, just what the singer had told her manager about this movie.

"I don't know if she'd really fit with the whole, umm...theme of the movie...but I'll put in a good word for her." She took a sip of her water and returned her attention to James a moment later. When she looked up, however, her heart skipped a beat and she came close to spitting out her drink all over the table. Not even three tables away she saw a familiar head of shaggy dark hair on a man dressed in a green button-up, talking to a customer.

"Oh my god he's right there." She hissed at Tori, whose eyes grew to twice their size when Jade grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer. "What if he comes over here?"

Just then, James' phone rang, surprising all three of them. He silently excused himself from the table, ducking into a quiet corner a few yards away just as Beck laughed loudly at something the old man seated in the booth in front of him had said.

"If he talks to James he's going to find out." Tori whispered, keeping her eyes on him while he moved to the next table.

"And he won't- he's not going to believe us, especially after last- after that night." Jade's voice was getting higher and higher as she grew more and more panicked. Tori looked back and forth between the actress and her ex-boyfriend a few times, as Jade rambled on. "He knows I would _never_ cheat on anyone, not even _you. _He's not going to believe us. He'll make your manager suspicious, and he's...he's just gonna blow it. _Tori, _what do-"Thinking back to the previous week when they'd told Andre, Tori took a deep breath, and without another thought, she went for it, pulling Jade in by a fistful of her stiff dark blue shirt. Jade's first instinct was to push her off, but Tori held her close, faking a long and passionate kiss and hoping that Beck was watching.

A man at the table behind them cleared his throat loudly and Tori let go, her face burning crimson red with both embarrassment and shame. Jade's face was pure white, and all emotion was gone. She stared at Tori for a moment, and when she finally chanced a glance at Beck, she saw his face and her own quickly mirrored the same expression. Her head soon hit the table, and she wrapped her arms around it, trying not to cry. She wasn't completely sure _why _she was so upset. She wanted to believe that it was only because he'd looked so heartbroken, but that didn't seem to be the complete story.

Beck stalked away without ever having looked Tori in the eyes, and she suddenly had no idea what to do. With a great amount of discomfort, she reached over to pat Jade on the back, just as confused about why she was suddenly so upset as Jade herself was.

"Jade, I..." No more words came out, but the distressed woman sat up, adjusting her shirt, clearing her throat, and taking a drink from her glass of water as if nothing had happened.

"It's okay." She assured Tori, though it wasn't very convincing. "He had to find out eventually."

"But I probably could have-"

"No." Jade spit out robotically, "I'm mad at _myself, _not you. I messed up, and I made him think that our night together meant more than it did, and now I hurt him. It's all _my_ fault, not _yours_. So if you'll excuse me, I'll see you on Thursday." Without another word, she stood up and left, leaving Tori alone at the table with only a slight idea as to what had just happened.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you for waiting/for all the lovely reviews. You guys are wonderful. :)**

* * *

><p>Despite ignoring every single one of Tori's numerous text messages and phone calls, Jade showed up at exactly seven o'clock on Thursday. Acknowledging what had happened Tuesday afternoon didn't seem to be on her mind, and Tori chose to ignore it, wearily packing their luggage into the car without a word, and certainly not any help. Jade leaned against the hood of the vehicle and played with her phone while Tori struggled to arrange her suitcase and Jade's two bags in a way that could fit them all into her rather large trunk. She couldn't manage it and had to throw Jade's old book bag into the back seat, as she thought about how glad she was that all the clothes she needed for her two performances had gone ahead of her, with her manager and the rest of the band.<p>

"Jade..." She didn't look up or even move. "We need to go. Do you have everything?" A couple seconds passed, and then the naturally unhappy half of the duo climbed into the car with a loud grunt. Tori could already tell that the next two hours would be bad.

With the programmed GPS in use, they drove for nearly half an hour before a single word was said. Tori's eyes kept flickering between the road and her passenger as she started to regret inviting her to come. The band and her manager had demanded that Jade come with, but if she was in this bad of a mood the whole weekend, they would soon realize just how wrong their first impression of her had been.

"Turn on the radio." Jade finally mumbled, tucking her phone away in her shirt as she rolled down the window. Tori obeyed and started flipping through the stations while she sped down the highway, judging by Jade's reaction which station to leave it on. She skipped through mainly commercials, with a few songs she didn't recognize, and Jade only wrinkled her nose at each one. Tori gave up on station surfing, letting it stay on one playing Lynyrd Skynyrd.

"Tori, I did it again." Jade finally spit out, over the sound of Sweet Home Alabama. Setting the cruise control, Tori stared at her in confusion, but Jade didn't explain.

"What?"

"With Beck." Tori resisted the urge to groan, wondering how it could be possible that Jade could have even less self-control than she did.

"Wait, what? He still wanted to see you after Tuesday?"

"No, I mean, that one Sunday night wasn't the only time. Last Thursday, when you were at that photoshoot? He called me and..." She threw her head back, and it bounced off the back of the seat. "I wasn't even drunk that time. I don't know why I even bothered to meet him. I knew it would happen. I _knew_ that." Tori didn't know what to say, so she simply reached for the radio and turned it down.

"It's just...even after all this time, it's what I'm used to. I... We hooked up for like, _six months _after we broke up. I _hated_ myself for that, but...I didn't know what else to do. Nobody _else _wanted me. So this isn't even the first time I've been stupid with him. I just... I miss it, I guess. Not him, I don't miss him." She broke into a slight smile and glanced at Tori. "Well, maybe _part_ of him." She found Tori's disgusted reaction rather amusing, and started laughing at her, forgetting all about what she'd just told her for a moment, until Tori brought it back up.

"I'd be surprised if it happened again, after...yeah...and you're leaving soon for your movie anyway, but just in case, I'm banning you from that restaurant. And from his house. Cheat on me again and I might have to consider breaking up with you."

"Would you really?" Jade's face put her hopeful thoughts on display, and Tori quickly put an end to them.

"No. You've barely even paid off half your debt. You're stuck."

"You said that this would only last a month!" Jade's loud whining completely drowned out the sound of the road noise. Tori rolled her eyes at the girl, though she could tell she wasn't serious. Most of the time, Jade actually seemed to be enjoying herself, living this lie. Sometimes Tori felt the same way.

"I said _maybe_ a month. I changed my mind and there's nothing you can do about it."

"Oh really? I might have to up my game a little, then. Wouldn't want to disappoint you." She stared at the car's confused driver with a scheming smile, but, again, didn't elaborate.

"...What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, you'll see, sunshine." She paused for one split second. "...Honey buns. Baby cakes. Pookie. Sweetie pie. Angel face. Muffin. Pumpkin. Baby doll. Sweet pea. Buttercup. Honey bunny. Se-"

"Okay!" Tori finally cut her off, fearing that Jade would actually keep listing off horrible pet names for the entire rest of the drive.

"Aww, what's the problem baby? Do you not like my pet names?" Jade quit teasing her after laughing at Tori's discomfort one more time, and then she fell silent again. She stared out the window and didn't say another word for almost an hour, but Tori felt a little better about it this time.

The second time Jade spoke, it was to force Tori to pull off the interstate so she could use the restroom at a gas station just outside Ventura. She wanted to keep driving - they were almost there - but Jade had a way of convincing her of anything with just one terrifying look.

She took forever and left Tori sitting outside in her car, texting Noah, who had arrived in Santa Barbara an hour earlier, for over ten minutes before her girlfriend reappeared. The cheerful look on Jade's face when she returned didn't last long, when Tori reprimanded her for taking too long and she immediately went on the defensive.

Even with their minor detour, they entered the Santa Barbara city limits at about 8:30, and within twenty minutes Tori's GPS led her to the hotel, where she only had to worry about parking her car, as her manager had taken care of getting her a parking pass and hiring a bell boy to take the luggage upstairs to the room she'd be sharing with Jade on the eighth floor. Fortunately, the boys were taking advantage of the pool already, and there were seven suites between the room they'd be sharing with Michael, the quietest member of Tori's band, and room 814, where the pop singer and her ad hoc girlfriend would be sleeping.

Tori introduced Michael to Jade in passing when they saw him in the hallway, and explained once they were in the room that he didn't get along with Hunter and Marcus very well, hence his absence from most of the group's informal meetings. He didn't talk much, and Tori still wasn't very familiar with the twenty year old musician, but he was extremely talented and, according to Tori, had more musical ability in his pinky toe than Hunter and Marcus had combined. Jade didn't doubt that.

They had barely finished unpacking when Tori was whisked away to a meeting with James, the rest of the band, and the committee running the next day's events. This left Jade alone in the room with no idea how to entertain herself. Her first thought was to find something to eat, so she slipped her shoes back on, stuffed a few dollars and a room key into her back pocket, and left, phone in hand, to explore the hotel, while on the lookout for a vending machine.

Unfortunately, there wasn't one on the eighth floor so Jade went down to the lobby, ready to rip the desk clerk a new one if there wasn't a machine down there. As her demanding stomach grumbled, she finally spotted one near the back. It was half full of useless things like condoms, travel sized toothbrushes, and combs, but the top two rows had some chips and one last bag of pretzels. She took the pretzels and a bag of plain potato chips, but she had half a mind to spend the rest of her change on condoms and sneak them into Tori's suitcase as a joke. The girl had been flirt-texting with her horrendously boring boy toy non-stop since they'd arrived at the hotel. She'd even walked into a sign marking a handicapped parking space just seconds after parking her car, because she wasn't paying attention.

There were better things to spend her useless change on, Jade decided, so she returned to the elevator, inwardly groaning when none other than Noah himself walked in right behind her. He recognized her right away, giving her a giant toothy smile. He could have benefited from braces as a child.

"Hey, you're Tori's friend, aren't you?" She considered answering with the truth - "No, I'm her girlfriend" - but a tiny part of her pulled the plug on that idea when she thought of how much Tori stupidly liked this idiot.

"Yeah." She grumbled instead, squeezing as far into the corner of the elevator as she could after pressing the eight button. The doors were taking forever to close.

"She tell you we're going out tomorrow night?" He asked unexpectedly, when the elevator finally started its agonizingly slow ascent. Jade's eyes grew slightly at the news, but she said nothing. "Is she the 'long walks on the beach' type? Because there's a real nice, kind of secluded beach a few minutes from here that I was thinking of taking her to, but if that's not really her thing, I could find something else to do. This is my first time in Santa Barbara, so I'm not real sure what all there is around here, and I have no idea what she likes to do and I don't want to plan something that she'll hate...I'm kind of nervous, actually." He suddenly groaned. "And here I am, babbling to you like an idiot. You're probably gonna go right back to her and tell her about how weird I am." Jade laughed at him - he was probably right.

"Tori's really into cheesy stuff like that," she assured him as the elevator doors _finally _slid open on the eighth floor, "so you'll be fine."

By the time she had even reached the door of suite 814, Jade was regretting what she'd told Noah. She should have told him the truth. Torishould have told her about this supposed date. She hadn't, though, which gave Jade enough reason to assume that she was keeping other things from her. If Tori wasn't being completely honest about something like _this, _why would she tell her anything?

Sinking into the queen-sized bed, Jade took a deep breath and tried not to think about how much seminal fluid was probably embedded in the disgusting hotel sheets. She continued to think about Tori instead. Maybe she had only _just _made these plans and hadn't had a chance to tell Jade yet. What reason did she have to keep it from her anyway? Jade had given her a small amount of approval to go ahead with her relationship with Noah, so she didn't have to hide it. Why did Jade care anyway? There was no point in getting upset over it already.

Her pretzels were all smashed and possibly stale, but Jade was starving, so she ate them anyway, moving on to the equally crushed potato chips she'd bought. Just as she finished them, Tori returned to the room, looking rather cheerful and energetic. It made Jade feel exhausted.

"This is so awesome." She chirped as she grabbed her pajamas from the top of the dresser. "I played so many boring shows and now I get to play a legitimate concert at a real festival. Isn't that so exciting?"

"_No." _Jade answered, "Stop talking."

"What got into you, cranky pants?" Tori didn't let Jade's bad mood bring her down, and the girl's response only rolled right off.

"Your little _boyfriend_, sugar tits." Jade snapped back, smirking at Tori's reaction. She wasn't sure if she looked so mad and confused because of the vulgar pet name or because of Jade's poor choice of words. "I saw him in the elevator. He said you're going on a _date_ tomorrow."

"You didn't." Tori muttered, arms dropping to her sides as she abandoned her thoughts of showering.

"I _didn't_. He's just as stupid and oblivious as he was an hour ago. I would appreciate it if you'd tell me about these kind of things though."

"I, uh... He asked me right after I left the room earlier, and I kind of forgot about it. I'll probably have to cancel on him though. I don't know how I'll be able to pull it off with all the guys from the label hanging around here..."

"No, why don't you do it?" Jade answered unexpectedly, as she got up from the bed and grabbed the ice bucket from the top of the mini fridge, hidden beside the TV. "Have a little _fun_. I'll take care of things around the hotel." Tori stared at her, wide eyed. She wasn't sure if it was even a serious offer, and if she _wasn't_ joking, Jade surely had some kind of ulterior motive. That was her scheming smile. She had to have _something _up her sleeve.

"Really?" In all honesty, Jade only offered so she could have some time to herself. For once, she _wasn't _planning anything sinister. She'd realized that she just wanted some time to relax, completely alone - and this was the way to get it.

"Really." With that, she left the room again, in order to find the ice machine, while Tori finally climbed into the shower. This machine was much closer than the vending machine had been, so Jade filled up the bucket she'd brought with her and returned to the room right away, crunching a few cubes between her teeth while the rest slowly melted. She flipped through the TV channels for a few minutes before she changed into her pajamas and poured a small glass of water, leaving it on the nightstand beside the bed as she climbed into it.

After what was possibly the longest shower ever, Tori returned to the main room, with her damp hair in two loose braids. She stared at the bed for a moment, as if she was contemplating sleeping on the floor instead, but then wordlessly crawled in beside Jade a moment later and was out cold within minutes. Jade, on the other hand, was up for most of the night, due to her hyped up brain and the fact that Tori was a _kicker_. She could almost feel bruises forming on her legs already, but there wasn't much she could do about it, other than push Tori off the bed, which, in all honesty, was very tempting.

The next morning, Tori was already gone by the time Jade woke up. She was partly upset that the performer hadn't woken her, but the more she thought about it, she felt somewhat grateful to have had the chance to sleep in. She'd needed it. When she finally did wander to the festival, she was especially glad she'd missed part of it - it was incredibly boring and altogether awful. She walked around for a while by herself, as the only person present who she actually knew and even _slightly _cared to talk to was backstage, where she apparently wasn't allowed. This time Jade wasn't too bothered with being restricted access to Tori, so she went off on her own again, catching the tail end of Noah's performance. He was surprisingly _decent - _not _good_, per say, but she'd heard much worse. She knew that her own personal opinion of the guy melted into her appraisal of his music, somewhat, so maybe he _did_ have some talent.

After him, a rather impressive duo played for nearly an hour. Jade browsed through some of the booths nearby, selling overpriced t shirts and seven dollar jumbo cups of lemonade, but she stayed close in order to hear the concert. A group of women went on next, and they weren't nearly as good, so Jade let herself wander farther. It was nearing six o'clock when she gave in and bought some disgusting nachos for dinner. She felt like an idiot, strolling around by herself, but she wasn't about to go sit in the room. She'd be spending her entire Friday night in there, so she was going to take full advantage of the beautiful cloudy day outside.

_Finally, _after Jade threw away her nachos and wandered back to the larger part of the crowd, Tori came on, and as usual, she was great. Jade could argue that she was stupid or annoying or just plain unlikeable, but her music was another story. Tori had always been a good performer, as much as Jade hated to admit it. She thought that today she might like to tell her that, but Tori hardly had time after she finished before she had to return to the room to get ready for her date. When they were both inside, Jade had lost all desire to congratulate her girlfriend, and instead sat on the bed with her laptop, watching Tori get ready and silently judging every move she made.

"So if anybody comes by looking for me, just tell them I'm...in the shower, or I went to get food, or something...and text me. I can come back early if I need to." Tori started laying out her instructions, but Jade ignored most of them.

"Sure thing, sugar." She sang, keeping her eyes on her computer screen as Tori checked her hair one last time and snuck out of the door.

Once she was gone, Jade apprehensively stepped into the germy shower, borrowing a pair of Tori's sandals to protect her feet from the ungodly substances that surely had infected the floor of it. Afterwards, she got dressed and dug through her bags for the book she'd packed, finally sitting down to read it just after 8 o'clock.

Licking two of her fingers, Jade turned another page, thinking about how long it had been since she'd been able to just sit and relax and read a book without having to worry about whether or not she'd have to sell it and all its bookshelf companions in order to pay her rent. It felt nice, knowing that no matter the box office results of her upcoming movie, she would have a decent paycheck coming. Hopefully after that, she'd get some better roles, and then it was only a matter of time before she would be mentioned on those awful "celebrity news" shows, even just in passing. That was when her relationship with Tori would make it's impact, she realized, and hopefully it would be a good one. They weren't stuck in the days where she would lose roles because of her sexuality anymore. Society's little guilt complex meant that these days, they were actually _more_ likely to be accepting of her simply because she was "different," though in reality, her sexuality wasn't quite the tangled web she was pretending it was.

Jade had hardly gotten through one chapter of her book when someone banged loudly on the door. With a frustrated sigh, she set the novel face down in her lap and waited for the interruption to identify itself.

"Tori!" A voice that sounded like James called through the door.

"We're busy!" Jade answered in an annoyed tone. They didn't take a hint.

"We understand, but we _really_ need to talk!" The second voice Jade didn't recognize, which raised her heart rate a little. Of course, Tori had told her manager that she'd be spending the whole night in her room, and here he was, just outside the door, with who knows who. The guy with him could be extremely important, and if he found out she wasn't there - or, god forbid, _why_, there'd be hell to pay.

It was quiet for a moment, so Jade retrieved her book. They interrupted her one more time, though, beating on the door again a second later. With a sigh, Jade rolled her eyes and muttered to herself as they kept knocking,

"_She's going to owe me big time." _With that said, she did the only thing she could think to do. She moaned. Loudly, again and again. She heard some loud whispering outside and struggled not to laugh at the thought of what their faces probably looked like as she started making every sex noise she could think of, all without even closing her book.

"Oh, god, Tori... Ohhh...yes...yes...yes..." She smacked the headboard a couple times, knocking it against the wall as she decided that she needed an Oscar for this. Throwing in a little more moaning and groaning, she thought voice acting might be a good back up plan.

Jade got out of bed, shoving the bookmark between the pages of her book before slamming it down on the side table. She took her phone from the top of the dresser and texted Tori, then faked a whimpering sound as she stepped closer to the door and peered through the peep hole. James and an unfamiliar older man were still standing in the hallway, though now they were up against the door across from 814. _What _would it take to get them to leave?

She returned to the bed and smacked the headboard again, letting out a rather painful sounding groan. It was taking a great deal of effort to resist laughing as she played her part for the two men. Jade took a drink of water, and looked in the mirror hanging above the dresser. She started making faces at herself as she continued with her marathon of fake grunting, moaning, and groaning.

"Oh, _Tori_..._" _She checked her phone again. Tori hadn't responded. With a dramatic eye roll, she peered through the peephole one more time. They were still there. Perverts. "_Ohhh.._." She sang one more time, starting up a chorus of "Iloveyou"s as she watched and waited for the men to leave. They didn't go until she'd jammed nine sets of those three short words into one breath. She didn't know if she'd sounded convincing at all, if it were even natural to be that loud. She knew from experience that she wasn't exactly quiet, but things were a little...different, with guys than they would be with Tori.

Jade finally sat back down on the bed to read her book, and while she felt a degree of aggravation at the thought that it'd taken the men so long to be scared off - and also the fact that it had been _necessary_, - she was also very entertained by it. Things would definitely be awkward for Tori when she returned.

She did, finally, half an hour later. Closing the door incredibly slowly, as if it could soften the blow of Jade's reaction, she apprehensively turned around to face a surprisingly calm woman instead. Tori stared at her for a moment without a word, her back still pressed to the door with her hand on the knob, in case she needed to run.

"You need to go talk to James." She spoke much too calmly for Tori's paranoia to wear off, but she did move away from the door.

"Did he say what he wanted?"

"Uhh...not exactly." Jade reached for Tori's arm as the girl turned to leave the room again, yanking her into the center. "You can't go see him looking like you just got back from a date!"

"_Sorry." _She snarled, pulling out of Jade's grasp just as the sound of knocking echoed through the suite. Jade cringed, hissing,

"Take your clothes off."

"_What?" _

"_Take them off!" _She started to pull at Tori's shirt when the singer continued to stand still, but the confused girl swatted Jade's hand away and stripped down to her underwear on her own, as Jade ripped a silky black robe out of her suitcase and forced it into Tori's hands.

"Tori! Are you still busy? We really don't want to bother you, but it's very important and we need to talk about this now."

"Uhh, just a second!" Tori called through the door, pushing Jade away as the actress began messing up her hair, while she fought with the tangled robe.

"_What are you doing?" _

"_Just go with it. Smear your makeup a little." _She gave her one last order, and before Tori could question it any further, the oddly nervous woman disappeared into the bathroom. Tori looked like a mess, for whatever reason, but she opened the door anyway, trying to tighten the revealing robe Jade had forced her into.

"Uh, hi. Sorry." James stared at her with wide eyes, and Rick, the head of the festival committee, looked twice as uncomfortable. "We were just, umm... I couldn't..."

"We heard." Tori's manager looked rather disturbed, just as she finally figured out what he thought she'd been doing.

"Oh, god. Oh. Wow. I'm so sorry." Her face burned and was surely a humiliatingly bright red color. "She's so loud, and I don't- I. Wow, this is really embarrassing."

"Don't worry about it. That's kind of, uhh, what hotel rooms are for... Anyway." The two men finally got to the point and explained what they were there for, and the three of them worked out their problem, though Tori's face was still on fire the whole time.

"So be there at ten. We'll need to rehearse a little and you should be early, just in case anything else goes wrong." Rick lost eye contact with Tori toward the end of his sentence, as Jade reappeared.

"What's taking so long, baby?" She asked, smirking into Tori's hair as she wrapped her arms around her from behind. Twisting around, Tori noticed that Jade was wearing the long cardigan she had taken with her on her date with Noah, and nothing else. She only had three of the five buttons done up, and they weren't lined up correctly. As she held the top of it together with her fist, Jade made eye contact with the two men on the other side of the doorway. Flashing a coy smile, she whispered to Tori,

"Come back to bed. I'm not done with you yet." The scarlet-faced woman glared at her and slowly turned back to her manager.

"I'm _really _sorry about her. She can be kind of...sometimes..."

"We'll see you tomorrow morning then." With a nod, she closed the door, resisting the urge to yell at Jade or start crying from the embarrassment she'd caused her. Standing by the bed smiling, Jade was still wearing the cardigan. She'd given up on holding the top half together, giving Tori a reason to feel like it was inappropriate to make eye contact with her. Her apparent lack of concern about nearly exposing herself to Tori made the songstress feel uncomfortable, which was probably the entire reason she did it. Jade _loved _to get a rise out of Tori and it took more these days than it used to.

"Does humiliating me get you off or something?"

"Of course not. If it did, I would do it much more often." Her mouth stretched into a rather eerie smile. "They wouldn't go away." She then shrugged and snagged her own sweater from her bag, sliding it on before she maneuvered out of Tori's cardigan and pulled it out of the neck hole. "I made you sound _very _talented. You can't be mad."

"I'm _not _mad." Tori hissed in a tone suggesting the exact opposite. "I'm just...really embarrassed_. Again."_

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Tori." After pulling on some sweatpants, Jade moved closer, wrapping one arm around Tori's shoulders. "It's natural. When people love each other like we're supposed to, they have super loud incredible sex in order to scare away their managers." Tori laughed, finally feeling relaxed for the first time that day. The nausea she'd been feeling due to her nervousness finally started to subside, now that she was back in the room for the night.

"_Incredible?" _She raised an eyebrow at Jade, turning the tables on her for once.

"Well, if we're doing it every night like _you_ seem to think, I would hope you'd be pretty good by now...but I guess maybe mediocre might be a better word."

"It's okay. You can call me incredible." Tori sat down on the bed with a smile and picked at a loose thread hanging off the bottom of Jade's robe. Her mind played over the last few hours a few times as Jade stood leaned against the dresser, silent for a change.

"Tori." She finally broke that silence, but she didn't move, or even turn her head to look at the girl. Her voice sounded completely different than it had a moment before. "I feel like..." She paused and shook her head, as if she'd talked herself out of saying what she'd been thinking. Tori looked up, waiting for the end of her sentence. "I feel like I'm putting a lot more effort into this relationship than you are. Don't look at me like that! That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Tori hadn't even realized she'd moved until Jade raised her voice. Her face went blank and she tried to stay still. "You're always looking at me like I'm...inferior, and an embarrassment, and you're just doing me a _favor _by being with me. I think I'm pretty believable but you...you're doing a pretty horrible job, to be honest. I know acting isnt really your thing anymore, but it's not that hard."

"Is this about Noah?"

"What? _No!_" With one flick of her arm, Jade knocked the empty ice bucket onto the ground and turned to face the window, thinking for the hundredth time that she should have said no a couple more times when Tori had forced her into this mess.

"Are you jealous of him or something?" The displaced bucket on the floor finally got to Tori and she stood up to return it to the top of the dresser. Jade spun around to face her once more, her pale white face turning a rich pink color.

"Oh my god. _This is not about him. _This is about _you. _I'm not going to keep trying if you're just going to act like you're my _babysitter._" Sliding the sleeves of her sweatshirt up to her elbows, Jade stared Tori down with a bitterness in her eyes that Tori hadn't seen since high school. She had been completely fine - happy, even - a moment before, and Tori had to wonder what had brought about this sudden anger. They were both silent for a moment, unsure what to say, until Jade took one of the pillows from the bed and turned without a word.

"What are you doing?" Tori rasped, frustrated by Jade's spontaneous grumpiness. Without even glancing over her shoulder, Jade gave her answer and kept walking.

"I'm sleeping in the bathroom."

"No you're not. Jade, come back." She only turned once she was inside of the bathroom. With a hand on the doorknob, she laughed and rolled her eyes, before she said one more thing and then slammed the door.

"It would take a little too much _effort_ to pretend to like you enough to share that bed."


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hello again. Thank you all so so so much for all the love you've been giving this story. It still hasn't quite sunk in that people are actually reading this. Your reviews mean a lot and I'm so glad you actually like this story. :)**_

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><p>At nine the next morning, Tori's alarm only had the chance to ring once before her hand shot out from beneath the covers to press snooze. She rolled onto her back with a long, drawn out groan, and spread her arms, stretching as she tried to wake up. Her right hand collided with something hard and before she could even open her eyes a low voice grumbled beside her.<p>

"_Oww, Tori..." _Jade shoved her with one hand, pulled the covers up with the other, and rolled onto her side, falling back asleep. When Tori had gone to bed the infuriated actress was asleep on the floor in the bathroom, so she had to wonder when Jade had given in and finally returned to the bed.

Before her phone went off again, Tori got up and disabled the alarm, using the light of her screen to illuminate her suitcase long enough to take her clothes out of it. She got dressed in the dark and moved to the bathroom to finish getting ready. She left a few minutes before ten, and on the way out she took one last look at Jade, thinking that maybe she'd been right. She _was_ putting a lot of effort into the relationship - more than Tori had ever expected her to, and more than she was putting in herself.

At noon, when Jade finally wandered out to the festival, Tori made it up to her. She had a few minutes before she was due backstage, so the second she spotted the girl, she took a trip to the coffee shop across the street and bought two cups, one loaded with cream and sugar for her, and another for Jade, with only two sugars. She hunted her girlfriend down near the stage and kissed her on the cheek before she handed her the drink.

"Uh, hey..." Jade muttered, looking into the cup suspiciously before fully accepting it. "I, uh..."

"You're welcome." Tori said with a smile, as she watched her manager approaching behind Jade. "I thought about what you said, umm..." She trailed off as James came closer. "And you were right. I'll try harder."

"How about you try harder to get backstage?" James joked, looping his arm around Tori's shoulder as if the night before had never happened.

"I have almost fifteen minutes, don't I?" She asked, checking the time on her phone just in case.

"Yes," he nodded, "but you need to talk to Rick before you get dressed, and who knows how long that'll take?" Tori mumbled an agreement and turned back to Jade, pausing for a moment as she waited for James to leave. Unfortunately, he didn't, so she cleared her throat and tried to be vague.

"But I, umm...I do really appreciate everything you've, umm..." she glanced at the phone-addicted businessman, typing something on his pearphone. "everything you've been doing for me." Jade simply nodded, taking a sip of her coffee to avoid laughing at the oblivious man beside them. "I'll be done around four and then we can do something fun. If you don't want to stay you can totally go. I'll just meet you back in the room when I'm done, I guess." With that, Tori uncomfortably looked to her manager, who finally glanced up from his phone and urged her to go.

By two, Tori was on stage with a knot in her stomach. There were a lot more people in the audience than there had been the day before, but when she noticed that one of them was Jade, she couldn't help but smile. She hadn't expected her to stay to watch a second show, let alone sit in the front row. She thought back to high school, remembering how even though she'd insisted multiple times that she didn't like Tori, Jade had always shown up to her performances and watched happily from the audience. Sometimes she congratulated her afterwards, but most of the time she didn't. It still felt nice just to know that Jade, of all people, thought she was talented, even if she didn't like to admit it.

The actress disappeared sometime before the last song, and when Tori finally went off stage, admittedly disappointed that Jade hadn't stayed, she walked right into the smiling girl's arms. In one hand she held a purple flower, happily watching Tori approach while she held it out to her. The smirk on her face worried Tori a little, though she quickly assured her,

"It's a carnation, Tori. It won't kill you."

"Did you know," Marcus interrupted their little moment as he left the stage, ignorant of the look of hatred that crossed Jade's face, "that when someone gives you a purple carnation, you're obligated to stop what you're doing and make out with them?"

"Did you know that when you talk to me, I'm obligated to resist _strangling you." _Jade spat at him, glaring at Hunter as well, although he was unusually silent, standing behind his best friend.

"Do you guys always have to be such perverts? Go away." Tori shot a look similar to Jade's at the two of them as she reached out for the flower.

"No." Jade pulled it away just as her fingers grasped it, and Tori stared back at her, confused. She then simply held the flower up and broke off the stem, leaving nothing but a couple of inches, which she then tucked behind Tori's ear. "_There._" She said with a smile, just as a flash went off a few feet away. A photographer was standing nearby when they both looked up. He only raised a thumb at them and continued to take pictures of everything going on backstage around them.

"Maybe that one'll end up on a magazine cover." Tori joked, reaching up to straighten the flower in her hair. The photographer was actually with a lesser known newspaper that was covering the event, and in all likelihood that picture would end up stuffed deep into the paper, covering a square inch or two of the page.

"I hope not. I look horrible today." Tori only rolled her eyes, until Jade added, "And so do you."

"Wow, thank you so much." She nudged Jade with her shoulder as she started to walk away. "I'm gonna go change and then maybe we can get dinner and check out the jacuzzi back at the hotel..."

"There's a jacuzzi?" Jade questioned, suddenly excited.

"Of course there is. What kind of hotel do you think we're staying in?" Tori found Jade's excitement incredibly adorable and stayed to smile at her a little longer.

"I don't know what the standard is these days...I've only been on like, one vacation since we went to Yerba, and I try not to remember that."

"That's still not my fault." Tori insisted, though Jade didn't believe her.

"It _so_ was. If we had been gang raped in a foreign prison I would have _murdered _you. I'm not even kidding. We wouldn't be standing here today and it would be all your fault."

"We never would've been... We wouldn't have... God, Jade, way to give me nightmares. Go back to the room." With that, Tori rolled her eyes and disappeared, leaving her morbid girlfriend to enjoy that reaction for a moment.

Once they'd reunited back at the hotel, Tori and Jade ate a rather informal dinner, sitting on the curb outside of a small cafe, as the festival had brought it more business than it could fit inside. They talked for a while about the most random things, and although Tori tried as hard she could, she couldn't get Jade to tell her any more about her movie. She wanted it to be a surprise, which scared Tori more than anything. She could hardly imagine what kind of things Jade would have to do for this role.

When they finished their meal, they wandered back to the hotel together, changing into their swimsuits in the room before they went down to the pool, which was strangely vacant for such a busy weekend. Tori climbed into the hot tub first, raising an eyebrow at Jade when she hesitated near the edge.

"Are you getting in?" She shot Tori a mischievous grin and sat down on the top step, setting her bag on the floor beside her. First she pulled out the towel she'd brought with her, and then she reached in again.

"I think...this weekend calls for a little celebration." Pulling a large glass bottle out of her bag, Jade smiled at Tori and watched her eyes double in size.

"Where did you get that?" Jade only waved a hand at her and answered nonchalantly,

"The label's paying for everything anyway, right? I got it from the mini bar. It's free, Tori. Come on. Like you said, this is my "Going away party," and I want to _actually _party, just a little." She stuck her bottom lip out and Tori dropped her head, trying to avoid looking so it'd be easier to deny her.

"...Fine. Just get in here." With an even bigger smile, Jade pushed her bag away and hopped into the jacuzzi, taking a seat beside Tori as she struggled to pop the top off, and then took a swig straight from the bottle, handing it over as it burned all the way down her throat. With a degree of uncertainty, Tori looked down the neck of the bottle, knowing perfectly well that drinking very from it couldn't end well. That in mind, she took a sip anyway and handed the bottle back to her drinking partner, who pushed it back toward Tori and demanded she take a bigger drink.

"Don't be a baby."

"I really don't handle this kind of alcohol very well. I-" Jade forced the mouth of the bottle between Tori's lips and tilted it upward before she could say a thing. Tori swallowed some, but coughed up even more, into the bubbling water of the jacuzzi.

"I want to see you drunk. It's been so long since you've actually done something interesting." Jade grinned, even with the bottle between her teeth as Tori denied her.

"Oh really? You still think I'm boring?"

"Tori," Jade took another drink, "I will _never _stop thinking you're boring." With an eye roll, she started to contradict herself. "But...you do have your moments. We have fun, right?"

"I guess so." Tori's face was a slight shade of pink when she answered, and she sank into the pool far enough to wet the back of her head, feeling relaxed already. Soon, she'd surpassed the limit she'd set for herself, and all thoughts of being responsible were slipping out the window.

"You know what?" Jade asked, actually waiting for a response, which she didn't get for nearly thirty seconds.

"What?" Tori took another sip, telling herself it would be her last one.

"I actually really like doing this. Pretending to like you. It's fun." She set the bottle on the concrete beside the tub, keeping it away from Tori. "And I get away with so much more this way because you have to pretend to love me too."

"I'm not having fun." Tori pouted, dipping just far enough below the surface of the water that her mouth was covered. She started blowing bubbles, with her eyes glued to Jade.

"Yes you are." Jade refused to believe her and took another drink, noting that almost half of the bottle had disappeared. She adjusted her slipping bikini top and smiled at her friend, who rolled her eyes and kept blowing bubbles in the water.

"You're a horrible girlfriend."

"Am I?" Jade slipped off the bench, into the deeper part of the tub where Tori was crouched.

"Yes." Her eyes dropped to the rippling water but soon moved back to Tori's scrunched eyebrows. She mumbled something, but Tori couldn't understand her.

"I disagree." She said much more clearly, dipping her chin beneath the water before her mouth moved to Tori's. Their lips met beneath the surface, in spite of the disgusting, overly chlorinated water between them. Jade slowly pushed Tori backward toward the stairs as she slipped her tongue into the inebriated girl's mouth for the first time. Tori leaned against the stone steps and pulled her closer. Not once did it occur to her that their relationship was fake and their kisses were supposed to be too. The thought that she was only behaving in such a manner because of the bottle of hell she'd drank so much of slipped into Tori's mind for only a portion of a second while Jade's tongue moved inside her mouth, but she didn't care. Jade was a good kisser, and that mattered a lot more at the moment. Tori bit down on the actress' top lip before she could control herself, but it was taken as an invitation to kiss her even harder. Jade pressed herself against Tori, massaging the inside of the girl's mouth with her tongue while the hand that wasn't propping her up on the steps pulled one of the singer's tanned legs around her waist.

"Hey!" The sound of reality yanked them apart and they flew to opposite sides of the jacuzzi. An agitated hotel employee stood scowling near the doorway by the towel rack. He was more concerned with what they'd brought with them than what they'd been doing. "You're not supposed to have food or drink in here! ...And the pool closed ten minutes ago. Take that somewhere else."

"Yes sir." Jade muttered bitterly, while Tori only sat on the steps, looking close to tears. As she climbed out, Jade took notice of the horrified expression on Tori's face. She bent down to retrieve the bottle and shoved it into the shaking hands that had only seconds ago been all over her. As if she hadn't already had enough, Tori took one more sip, searching for the top and forcing it back on before she even stood up to stumble drunkenly out of the jacuzzi.

Back in the room, Jade changed out of her bikini in the bathroom and attempted to pat her hair dry with a fresh towel. In a loose V-neck tee and a pair of shorts, she stepped back into the main room, where Tori sat in the center of the bed with the bottle between her legs. One hand was wrapped around the neck of it while the other turned the cap over between her fingers. She was soaking wet and hadn't moved, until Jade threw her towel at her. It nearly knocked the girl over, but she didn't even look up. Once more, the bottle met her lips, but Jade pulled it away, laughing at her before she could challenge herself to finish it off.

"God, Tori. Are we gonna have to be roomies in rehab?"

"Why did you kiss me?" Their eyes met and Jade couldn't come up with any combination of words that didn't sound stupid. She was drunk, and it had just seemed like the thing to do at the time.

"Did you not like it?" The question came out before she could stop it.

"...We were alone. We weren't acting, and you just...kissed me. A _real_ kiss. Why?" Tori's lack of a facial expression was more frightening than her odd behavior.

"You didn't like it." More stupid words. _This mouth belongs to someone else, _Jade thought. _Someone who hates me. _Tori still didn't say a word.

"I'm going to bed." Jade flipped off the light and crawled into the bed before her moronic brain could make her say or do anything else, leaving Tori in the dark. She didn't move, even then. The city lights outside illuminated the room just enough to create a distinction between the woman seated in the center of the bed, and everything else around her.

"I did like it." She finally said, and she laid down beside Jade, pulling her head up to hers. Her lips hovered just millimeters away for a moment, touching down once or twice for fractions of a second at a time, until Jade threw the covers back and let the rest of her body override her brain. Their mouths met and pulled apart for a few minutes in the dark, before Tori drunkenly crawled on top of Jade to make it easier for herself to destroy everything they'd had going for them.

Jade's arms wrapped around Tori's neck, holding her tightly against her as their tongues became reacquainted. At some point in their frenzy of groping and kissing, they'd both ended up beneath the covers, where Tori was sliding her hands up her alcohol scented fake girlfriend's t shirt, exploring everything beneath it while she had the chance. Her mouth moved to Jade's neck, sucking on it hard enough to surely leave a mark. The actress didn't object to Tori's hands and mouth sliding all over her, but her impeded brain finally caught up with the rest of her, and she realized where things were going once Tori's bony knee slid between Jade's legs, pressing hard against her.

"_No..." _Jade moaned, far from convincingly. Ignoring her, Tori only moved her lips down to the other girl's collarbone as one of her hands slid all the way up one of the pale legs beneath her. "No. No, _Tori_. I'm not drunk enough for that. What the hell is _wrong_ with you?"

"What's wrong with _me?_" Tori sputtered in anger, as Jade shoved her away. "I, what? You-you..." Her lips quivered and she started to cry tears smelling of alcohol. Jade sat up in confusion and her hands hovered in mid-air while she fought the sudden urge to hug her. The girl and the thousands of emotions she was exuding at once forced Jade to lose that fight, and she let Tori curl up against her, lovingly resting her chin on Jade's shoulder as if they'd mutually agreed to stop.

"I'm sorry." She pushed her lips against Jade's cheek, which surprised her more than anything else. Then she laid down, she curled up on the mattress with the sheets pulled to her chest, and she went silent. Her head was spinning too fast for her to get dressed, and soon enough everything went black anyway.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Sorry I took so long with this one. I've been busy. **_

_**Also sorry I've apparently disappointed some of you with this fanfic. I'm not perfect and this is fanfiction.**_

_**Thank you everybody for reading/reviewing (It's commenting now?) as well. You're very much appreciated and it seems completely insane to me that so many of you like this story. :)**_

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><p>When Tori woke the next morning, her brain was spinning round and round inside her head, and she felt like she might still be just a <em>little bit<em> drunk. The ceiling came into focus above her, but the events of the night before remained a blur. She was wearing Jade's t-shirt, but she couldn't quite remember why. The pale white skin of Jade's back was just inches away from Tori's face when she turned onto her side, and she almost reached out to run a finger down her spine, before Jade rolled over, nearly crushing her. The blue sports bra she was wearing peaked out from beneath the covers, and one thing Tori _did _remember was that Jade hadn't been wearing it the night before. Staring at Jade's face while as she slept, Tori's brain slowly started working at a normal speed. It was then that the memories began to creep into her mind.

"Get away from me." Jade mumbled sleepily, her eyes fluttering open a moment later. Without warning, her peaceful face quickly turned to an angry one. "What are you-what did you-why would you..." She fell out of the bed and tried to play it off as gracefully as she could. "You" she pointed an accusing finger at Tori, "ruined _everything_."

"Me? _You_ kissed _me!_" The sound of her own voice hurt, but Tori couldn't help but defend herself. She may not remember in detail what had happened, but what she did know surely didn't seem like something to be so upset about. Jade's bright eyes were wild, wide open. She looked disgusted, or terrified, or both, and it seemed odd, even for typical overreacting Jade, to have slipped into this panicked state so soon after waking up.

"_One time! _I was _drunk_!" She uncomfortably ran her hand down her pale and exposed stomach, and then threw open her backpack, searching through it for a new shirt while fighting angry tears.

"You didn't get that way on accident!" Tori shouted back at her, wincing. Her face fell into her hands and she choked back a sob. She should have known things would end up this way eventually. Getting along wasn't exactly something she and Jade had ever been able to do for very long, and something was bound to happen, with them spending so much time together.

"_Neither did you._" With a loud grunt, Jade yanked the shirt she'd worn the day before over her head and wrapped her arms around her chest, though she still felt exposed.

"You made me drink," Tori mumbled softly, "and I told you I didn't want to."

"You said you didn't handle alcohol very well. You _didn't _say no. I thought you meant that...that you get drunk quickly, or that you might throw up or something, _not _that you'd have a few sips of cheap vodka and suddenly want to stick your fingers in me!"

"I didn't- I wouldn't have-"

"Don't even try to defend yourself," Jade snapped at her. "You and I both know what would have happened if I'd been as drunk as you."

"Well I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you. I can't control what I do when I'm drunk, and...I guess we've just...gotten too used to being _in character_, and that was in the back of my mind, and... I'm just _sorry_. I didn't mean anything I said or did last night, I _swear_."

"I don't care." Creases formed in Jade's forehead and she smoothed her tangled hair back. Her eyes closed - she couldn't even look at Tori anymore without feeling sick. "I'm done. I'm out of here. I'm _done _with this. I did my job, and _you_ took it too far. I'm just _done_, I'm _so_ done. I'm leaving." True to her word, she turned around and started throwing all of her things back into her bag. Tori only then started to take her seriously.

"Wait, now? You can't leave now!"

"Well I'm _going to._" She hissed, disappearing into the bathroom to take some more of her belongings. "I'm getting on a bus, and I'm going home, and then on Wednesday I'm getting on a plane and I'm going to Chicago, and maybe I just won't come back."

"Jade, please, calm down. I'm sorry, I'm _so _sorry. I messed up, I know, but it won't happen again, and if you'll just forgive me, I... I'm sorry, Jade. I need you, especially right now. I still need you. This isn't as big a deal as you think it is. You're-"

"I am _not _overreacting!" She spat, pulling her packed bag up onto her shoulder. Jade pointed a finger at Tori and added with a nod, "You can keep that." Then, she picked up her second bag, snatched her phone from the top of the dresser, and walked right out of the room. Tori half expected her to change her mind and come back, but she didn't.

For nearly an hour, Tori sat on the bed, trying to deal with the last several hours. She texted Jade but didn't get a response, not that she'd expected one. It was all too much, and her brain hurt. She couldn't even think about what she was going to do now. The commercial had only just aired - her song was starting to sell online. Her album was finished. If she were to ever gain the fame she'd been desiring for so long, now was the time. Now was when she needed Jade the most.

Just as Tori finally got out of bed, there came a knock on the door. She reluctantly pulled on the previous day's jeans and moved to open it, unable to smile even when she saw that Noah was on the other side. When she remembered what she was wearing, the thought of smiling was pushed even further back in her mind.

"Is now not a good time?" He asked, noticing how upset and disheveled she looked. Tori only shook her head and turned back into the room.

"No, come in. I'm, uh...I'm fine. Or I will be. I have something I need to tell you anyway, so you might as well come in." He followed her into the room, slowly closing the door behind him.

"I should have been honest with you from the very beginning," She started, "but I was afraid it would scare you away... I, umm... Jade...is not my best friend." The look on his face suggested that he already knew that. "She's my ex-girlfriend..."

"Your..."

"The label is kind of, umm...well, _exploiting_ my sexuality... You know how it is. They're putting your background before your music too, only I mean...your family history, that's kind of common knowledge, so it's different, I guess, for me. They just..." She knew she still couldn't tell anyone the complete and honest truth, and that made it difficult for Tori to explain things to Noah. "I mean, Jade and I haven't been together for a while, but the label wanted us to pretend to be, for a few months, because I guess she's kind of my identifier..."

"I actually..." Noah started to speak, though he was unable to make eye contact with Tori. She held her breath, scared he was going to reject her over a relationship that she couldn't even tell him was completely fake. "I'm really not that involved in the gossip around here - I mean, I don't talk to anyone at the label very regularly so it's not like I'd really have a chance to talk about that kind of stuff - but I did hear that you were a lesbian a while ago. It wasn't exactly a credible source though, so I kind of blew it off, because I like you, and I thought you liked me..."

"I do! I do. I really like you, Noah." Tori scrambled for the words to fix things. "I'm not actually... I mean, I'm not a lesbian. I'm really not. Jade is the only girl I've ever been with, and I don't know, I guess that makes me bisexual, but uh..._you're_ more my type. I really like you. I hope this whole mess doesn't scare you, but I'd understand if it did."

"You're not still in love with her?"

"No! No, I'm... She kind of hates me, especially after the fight we had this morning. She left about an hour ago and took a bus back to LA, and then she's going to Chicago to film a movie and I might not ever see her again, but I'm okay with that. We really...It never would have worked out, even if we'd still been together by choice. I'm over it, I swear."

"Well, that's all that matters, then." He smiled, and she finally started to feel a little better.

"It doesn't freak you out to know I've been with a girl?" She asked one more question, just to be sure. If he was looking for an out, he would have been gone by now, she thought. It was an easy out. All he had to say was yes.

"No, girls are awesome. Just as long as you're not expecting me to be one, I'm completely fine with it." Noah wrapped an arm around her, trying not to be too forward, although Tori wasn't at all concerned with it. She found it comforting.

"That's such a relief. You have no idea." Resting her head on his shoulder, Tori sighed, feeling relaxed and completely distracted from thoughts of what had happened with Jade, just for a moment.

"When are you leaving? Do you have time to go get lunch?"

"Yes!" Tori answered a little too quickly, and her face turned red from embarrassment. "I would love to, but first I have to get dressed, and... I'll meet you in the lobby in fifteen minutes, okay?"

...

Exactly sixteen minutes later, Tori and Noah left the hotel to find a restaurant to eat lunch together. They talked about small things - the festival, the label, and Tori's band, who Noah'd had the misfortune of meeting the night before. He told her stories about his own manager, and his family. Noah's family was from Vegas, and his great grandfather was a rather infamous part of the city's history. It wasn't really something that he had carried around with him, but the label found it interesting, and just as Tori's marker was her sexuality, Noah's was his family. The only difference was that they were exploiting Noah for something that was actually true.

He asked her out on another more official date just as he paid the bill, and she happily agreed, walking back outside hand in hand. They parted ways soon after one o'clock, and he kissed her for the first time in his car, right outside of the hotel. Tori packed up all of her things and brought them down to her own car, as quickly and quietly as she possibly could. She didn't want to run into her manager, and was already dreading having to tell him that Jade had left. It would surely disappoint him - and definitely her band, though she wasn't too concerned with disappointing them. Maybe, if she were lucky, they'd quit.

Tori went home and left her bags in the living room, going straight to her bedroom to take a nap without a single thought about unpacking just yet. She lay in bed with her eyes closed, unable to fall asleep, and her mind quickly and unsurprisingly drifted to Jade. She wondered what she was doing, just then. She wondered for a moment if Noah had been able to taste Jade when he'd kissed her. She wondered why Jade had reacted the way she had, but mostly Tori wondered why the previous night had happened at all. Her inability to explain her own actions was more frustrating than trying to understand Jade.

It wasn't until she realized she was nearly starving that Tori finally got out of bed. She wandered into her kitchen, peering into the refridgerator while her brain took ages to comprehend how empty it was. She popped a bag of popcorn from the corner cabinet and sat down on the couch, flipping the TV on, though naturally nothing interesting was on.

Halfway through an old episode of Spongebob that she'd seen a dozen times before, Tori's phone buzzed from its spot on top of her suitcase. She considered ignoring it, and she tried to, but soon her curiosity and the foolish thought that it might be Jade got to her. Once she retrieved it, she realized with a great deal of surprise that it actually _was _Jade. The multitude of apologies Tori had sent earlier were displayed at the top of the screen, and Jade's message, below them, read,

"This is taking too long. You told me a month. At this rate it'll take a lifetime to accomplish anything. I'm sorry. I'm done." Tori didn't know how to respond, and she toyed with a dozen different replies while she sat there, going with a little white lie in the end.

"It's fine. Thank you anyway."

…

Jade spent her entire Tuesday packing for her trip to Chicago, reaching an unheard of level of frustration by the time noon rolled around. It was colder there, and she couldn't seem to find her warmer clothes. She had no idea what all she would need, and her crappy apartment was a mess. To add to her annoyances, the doorbell rang when she was in the middle of packing up her bathroom. She dropped what she was doing and took her time getting to the door, only to open it and wish she'd pretended not to be home.

"So...what? You're a lesbian now?" Beck didn't look very happy, and she didn't blame him. "What the hell are you doing with your life, Jade?"

"It doesn't concern you." She answered, turning to go to her tiny kitchen for a glass of water. He followed her, and she soon realized that he was much more angry with himself - likely because he didn't have a clue what to say - than he was with Jade.

"It doesn't concern me? You know, I thought maybe you were just being a bitch when I saw you with Tori at the restaurant last week, but then I talked to Andre and he said you guys have been dating for _three months._ How many times have we been together in the past three months?"

"Beck..." He was standing just two feet away, preventing her from leaving the tiny room. She didn't know what to say either.

"Why are you doing that to her? Tori doesn't deserve that. Tori doesn't deserve _you_."

"You don't have to remind me, okay? Tori and I just...it's really complicated, and I would love to explain it to you, but I just can't. We just... Well, it's done now, okay? She came to her senses."

"I can't believe you've become the kind of person who would do that to someone."

"Just go. Why are you even here? I don't have to explain myself to you and I couldn't even if I tried. Get out of here." He shook his head in disapproval, but did as he was told and left her apartment without a fight. Jade breathed a sigh of relief at the thought that she wouldn't have to deal with him for the next couple months, and hoped that maybe by the time she came back, he would be completely over her and she wouldn't feel so bad every time she hurt him.

Choking back a few tears, Jade went back to packing, trying to pretend that the last month had never happened. The next morning, Jade boarded a plane headed for O'Hare, pointing her life in a new direction, putting that experience far behind her while Tori did the same thing 2,000 miles away back home.

The next few weeks flew by, with Jade starting to film the movie that would surely change her life, while Tori's album slowly moved closer to its release date and her single moved all the way up to number 47 on the charts. Though they were thousands of miles apart, their careers were both going in the same direction, and over those first few weeks, they frequently caught themselves wondering what the other was doing, though they were both too stubborn to call and find out the answer.


	14. Chapter 14

_**I didn't really want to post this until I had more of the next chapter done, but I figured after the last chapter I owe you guys another one. We'll get through it together. Not too much longer. :) **_

_**Thanks again for the lovely reviews.**_

* * *

><p>If James knew that Tori was dating Noah, he didn't acknowledge it. He wasn't the type to have much interest in her personal life, but she still wasn't about to tell him. He'd been terribly disappointed to find out that she and Jade had "broken up," but she knew that it was mostly just because Jade was an actress, on her way to making a name for herself in the movies, and she would have been good for Tori's image. He was a businessman to the core. He didn't really care who Tori was in a relationship with, as long as it was a good business move.<p>

Every since they'd come back from the trip to Santa Barbara, Tori and Noah had spent nearly every minute together. They certainly weren't hiding anything about their relationship, but nobody seemed to have any complaints, which was sadly a first for Tori. Something about her relationship with the country singer seemed much different from anything she'd known before. She could already tell that he genuinely liked her - a lot. For the first time in her life, Tori had no fears of being cheated on or used or wronged in any sort of way. He wasn't that type of guy, and she knew it. She wasn't concerned. While she'd never imagined any of her previous boyfriends would treat her the way that they did, she hadn't had quite the sense of security with them that she had with Noah. He was the type of guy she was meant to be with. He wasn't like the others, and he certainly wasn't like Jade.

Every once in a while, Tori considered calling her, to see how she was doing. In spite of what had happened between them, she wanted to be Jade's friend. She'd worked so hard from the very day she'd met her, trying to get on the girl's good side, and she finally had. In Jade's own way, she _did_ consider Tori her friend, and it was a dysfunctional friendship, but a friendship nonetheless. She didn't know if that was officially over or not, but Tori did know that calling her "ex-girlfriend" would only make things awkward, so she didn't do it and she moved on with her life instead, or so she thought.

Exactly one month after he'd officially asked her to be his girlfriend, Noah took Tori out for the night. They had dinner at a nice restaurant in Northern Los Angeles, he took her for a walk through the park, and then they finally made their way to the movie theater. They sat in the back, fully intending to make out through the entire thing like they were teenagers again, but only two minutes into the movie, Tori threw that plan out the window when she realized what film they were watching. Nicolas Cage appeared on the giant screen, and she nearly choked on her own breath. He was in _a lot_ of movies every year, Tori reminded herself. This might not be the same one. It had hardly been long enough for Jade's movie to already be in theaters, had it? No need to panic just yet.

She sat hand in hand with Noah, watching the first twenty minutes of the movie while she calmed down in silence, distracting herself every few minutes by letting him kiss her. The movie got boring fast, and within another fifteen minutes, Noah was feeling her up in the dark while they made out like no one else was around to see them.

Tori was considering suggesting that they leave and take things outside to his car, or possibly just the bathroom, if she was feeling particularly mischievous, but just as she had that thought, the mood was beaten to death by the ringing sound of a familiar voice. Tori turned her head and there she was, exploited on the big screen, dressed in a tiny black tank top and a teal skirt while she leaned over the bar in a manner that made it impossible not to stare at her backside.

"Oh god." Tori muttered, pulling away from Noah to cover her eyes, while she turned red from embarrassment.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, his voice strained, "Let's just go."

"Yeah..." She stood up to leave before he could even move. "I'm really sorry, I don't want to ruin our date, but I didn't-"

"Hey," he stopped her and wrapped an arm around her waist while he led his girlfriend out of the theater. "I wasn't watching it anyway." He took Tori to his car, and neither of them said another word for quite a while. He just held her hand in one of his, while the other gripped the steering wheel. Noah smiled at Tori a few times, but she could tell that he was disappointed.

When they returned to his apartment,Tori used Noah's restroom as an excuse to calm down in private. By this point, she was kicking herself for reacting the way that she had. She could have just ignored Jade and finished the movie like a normal person. Jade had said her character died within ten minutes of her first appearance anyway, hadn't she? Now, Noah was probably thinking that Tori wasn't over the actress she'd never even been in love with, and in reality, Tori reacted the way she had because she was feeling awkward for him. In the small glimpse she'd had of her before they left, Jade had looked pretty good - amazing, really - and it surely would have been awkward for Noah to sit through that scene with Tori, thinking '_that girl has had her mouth on my girlfriend._' Now, Tori realized he probably wasn't thinking that, and she had only made things worse. When she finally returned to the living room, Noah was sitting on the couch, staring at the TV though it wasn't on. He was definitely thinking about it now.

"I'm really sorry about that." Tori's cheeks burned as she sat down in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck before she said another word. "It wasn't...She just, umm...really killed the mood, and I didn't want to...I just want to make you happy." She whispered in his ear and held onto him in silence for a moment.

"You do." He laughed, as if it were completely ridiculous to think otherwise.

"I...It's not that I'm not over her. I swear, I am. I just... I know you said that it doesn't bother you that I dated her but I figured it might if you had to watch her on a movie screen for very long... I didn't mean to ruin our date, and I totally just did. I'm sorry."

"You didn't ruin the date, Tori. You're fine. Quit worrying about it." He kissed her again before he continued speaking. "We can just continue our date here. I could, umm... I think I have waffles. I could make you waffles. And we could light a candle, and, uh... I could say French things." She clung to him tighter, only sliding off of his lap and onto the carpeted floor once she'd quit laughing at him.

"Oh, do you know French?" She teased, sliding her hand up one of his calves.

"A little." He laughed, "Uhh... voulez vous coucher avec moi?" He rolled off of the couch and squeezed into the space behind her once again, wrapping his arms around her waist tightly while he grinned.

"I would say yes, but I get the feeling you don't know what that means."

"You are correct." He kissed her on the cheek and was silent for a moment, waiting for her to explain.

"It means 'would you sleep with me?'" Tori finally translated, turning red from holding back her laughter.

"Oh. Then I am even more ashamed that I liked that song as a child." She twisted in his grasp and kissed him hard on the mouth.

"My answer's still yes."

...

Two thousand miles away, Jade sat in front of her computer at the desk in her freezing cold hotel room. The room was beautiful, but it was dark and it was empty. The only company she had came from the other side of a computer screen, thousands of miles away, where she'd rather be.

"You don't look very happy for a future movie star." He said, trying to smile and cheer her up, but it didn't come naturally to him, and the awkwardness still lingering between them didn't help any.

"I'm not." She unzipped her jacket and avoided looking at the screen as she threw it onto the bed.

"Why's that?"

"I'm...lonely. The rest of the cast...doesn't like me. Or, well, I don't like _them_...but I've spent a month in this stupid hotel room, and I don't know this place, and I hate Chicago. I want to go home, but we won't be done filming for at least another two weeks. We're changing locations tomorrow. We'll be spending the next couple weeks in some god awful cornfield just outside the suburbs. As if this movie isn't already taking twice as long to film as it was supposed to, now there won't even be a McDonald's within walking distance."

"What would you say if I said I'd come visit you?" She rolled her eyes and stood up to retrieve a bottle from the mini fridge.

"Beck, you hated me the last time I saw you in person."

"I didn't hate you," he assured her, "I was just...confused, I guess. I was mad, sure, but I didn't _hate you_." He paused for just a second. "I'm serious, though. I could get on a plane in the morning and be there by the time you're done filming tomorrow."

"_No. Are you insane? _I'm not letting you fly two thousand miles just to come sleep with me because I have no friends."

"Jade, that's not-"

"That's what we are now. You know that." He shrugged on the other side of the computer but couldn't seem to find words. "You'll just fly all the way here for no reason. I'll let you in my bed and then you'll go home and nothing will have changed. If I wanted somebody to have meaningless sex with in order to _numb the loneliness, _I already have a willing participant who is staying in this very hotel right now."

"Can I ask why he's not there with you then?" His face turned a slight pink color. "Or she..."

"_He_," Jade explained, "is one of my co-stars... He constantly hits on me even though he knows I hate him...and let's just say that after what we had to film yesterday, I know for a fact that sleeping with him wouldn't even make me feel better temporarily..." Beck raised an eyebrow, questioning the source of this information. She didn't reveal it.

"That's...probably for the best. Never a good idea to sleep with someone you work with." She only laughed and took another drink, digging through her bag for some leftover snack food. Beck leaned against the armrest of the couch he was sitting on, with his bloodshot eyes aimed right at her.

"I still don't get how you ended up with Tori. If we're going to be friends, you have to tell me these things." Jade ripped open a bag of peanuts and scooped out a handful of them, before she started dropping them into her mouth one by one.

"I really don't think we're friends."

"You're video-chatting with me at, what, 10 o'clock on a Friday night? We're friends."

"I don't need you fantasizing about me and Tori, so _no_, I'm not going to tell you _anything_ about us. And it's 11 here." He rolled his eyes at her but didn't drop the issue.

"You know, that doesn't really prevent me from thinking about it." With that image in her head, Jade sighed in frustration and tried to remember what their story had even been.

"Alright, I just... I don't know, she told me how she felt a few months ago, and I just... I was curious. I wanted to know _why_ she liked me, so I...I agreed to go on a date with her...and then, well, it just happened, I guess. I don't know how to explain it. It was just one of those things, where you just wake up one day and realize you're in love with someone before you've even admitted to yourself that you like them at all. But she's Tori, and I'm me, and it obviously can't work."

"Yeah?" Beck kept staring at her, with an obvious lack of trust in her story.

"Yeah."

"Do you still love her?" Jade put the bottle to her lips once again to avoid answering him right away. He was still waiting when she finally looked back at the screen.

"Why do you care? You're my ex-boyfriend, you're supposed to hate me, _and_ you're especially supposed to hate talking about the people I've been with since you."

"That may be, but you know, I'm not exactly sober right now and I really couldn't care less." She sighed, wondering just how far from sober he was if he was using it as an excuse. With Beck, it was hard to tell sometimes.

"Why is everybody always drunk?" With a groan and a little sip to aim herself in that direction, she tacked the answer to his question onto the end of her own. "No, I don't." Beck didn't have to say a single word for Jade to know he thought she was a liar. She made something up in an attempt to satisfy him. "I might _possibly _still have feelings for her...but I'll get over it. It was just a... Well, it's over." He nodded, believing that answer. The words tasted funny in her mouth, though she'd talked about her pretend feelings for Tori before without a problem.

"I think you should call her." As he smiled again, Jade was slowly starting to realize just how intoxicated he was.

"I think you should _shut up_. Don't put ideas in my head when I'm vulnerable..."

"You? Vulnerable?" He laughed at her and closed his eyes, settling into his seat a little more.

"Yes. Not all of us are immune to feelings, you know. I'm just... I'm lonely. I mean, I'm talking to _you_. I would spill my guts to just about anyone who would talk to me right now." She paused, then told him a partial truth. "I've already thought about calling her twice today, but I know that wouldn't be a good idea. From what I hear she's moved on already anyway, so it wouldn't even make a difference." Beck was silent for a moment, and Jade thought he'd fallen asleep, until he made a face at her without even opening his eyes.

"Yeah, with _Noah_. That guy is so boring. It won't last." Jade wondered how many times Beck had actually talked to the guy before making that assumption. It wasn't like he and Tori were best friends. She hadn't expected them to see each other at all while she was gone.

"Oh really? Says who, the relationship expert?" She teased him and he stared straight into his webcam with a look of disapproval.

"You know, I may not have been the best boyfriend in the world, but I do know enough about relationships to know that that one isn't going to work." Jade rolled her eyes at him, but he ignored her. "Trust me. He's a rebound."

"I'm _not_ gonna take your word on that." Beck only sighed, teasing her as he started to end the conversation.

"Go memorize your lines or something."

"I will." With a final wave, Beck disconnected, leaving Jade sitting in front of her computer with a blank look on her face. Something about that conversation had seemed very strange, and while she wanted to say that it was just because it was Beck, she couldn't. They'd made up, to some degree, soon after she'd arrived in Chicago, and it seemed like maybe he was getting over his feelings for her, or at least coming to terms with the fact that that was all they'd ever be. They could manage being friends. If she'd had anyone else to talk to, however, she would've chosen them over him, but he was it. She hadn't had much of a choice, and all she'd needed was to hear the sound of a friend's voice before she went insane.

Toward the end, it had been getting difficult to separate her real self from the pretend one - the one who loved Tori. Even now that they were "broken up" that hadn't changed. As she had been speaking to her ex, the fake heartbreak she was pretending to hide didn't seem quite as fake anymore. Though she would love to deny it, she missed Tori. They'd had a good thing going, until she'd ruined it. She was honestly one of the best - and only, really - friends that Jade had anymore, and she missed that terribly. They'd had fun together. She could admit that.

The more thought she put into it, the worse Jade felt. She didn't know how Tori felt, or why she'd done what she did, and Jade certainly couldn't explain her own actions, but whatever the reason was, they'd both ruined a good friendship together.

…

Tori woke up beside Noah early Saturday morning, and she lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling, trying to regain feeling in her body. She felt very disconnected, like her brain was completely separate from the rest of her. Wiggling her toes and flexing her fingers gave her the physical feeling she was looking for, but still, she didn't feel right.

Snoring quietly to the left, Noah lay flat on his back with one arm thrown across Tori's stomach. She took his hand in hers, but he remained asleep. He was a heavy sleeper, she'd known that for a while, but now she was wishing he would wake up. When he didn't, she gently pushed his arm aside and crawled out of his bed, gathering her clothes from the floor as she snuck into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

For several minutes, Tori stood beneath the streaming water and didn't move. She didn't know how she felt anymore. The night before...it had been okay...but not good, exactly. Tori kept trying to tell herself that it wasn't a big deal - so what if he wasn't very good in bed? He was sweet and he respected her. He had a decent sense of humor, he was good looking and ambitious. Noah was just what she needed. He could improve, and if she really loved him, it shouldn't bother her that much. Maybe it wasn't even him. Maybe it was her fault. They could work on it - they _would _work on it. They were in love. It wasn't a deal breaker.

A knock on the bathroom door broke Tori out of her trance, and before she could say anything, Noah stepped into the room, speaking only when he was close enough for Tori to see his silhouette through the shower curtain.

"I have to spend a couple hours in the studio today," He said, "and I was thinking you could come with. It won't be much fun, but I'd love to have you there... If you don't have anything else to do, I mean. If you have something else to do, do that." Tori poked her head out from behind the shower curtain to smile at him.

"I would love to go with you." He grinned back at her and stepped closer to give her a kiss, before she slipped out of his grasp and returned to her shower in silence.

By the time she was dry and redressed, Tori felt a lot better. Things quickly went back to normal, and she was enjoying herself again when they arrived at the studio. Her reestablished good mood was soon gone once again, however, when Tori spotted Marcus in the hallway outside of the booth Noah had reserved. Even more unfortunately for Tori, Marcus saw her too. He started jogging down the hallway in her direction, and Noah quickly excused himself, knowing how things were going.

"Well, I'm gonna get to work. Take your time, uhh...taking care of that."

"_Thanks._" Tori groaned, glaring at Noah as he disappeared into the room with a playful smile on his face.

"Tori!" The teenager slowed to a stop in front of her and smacked Tori playfully on the shoulder, wearing a giant smile. "How's it going? You get back with Jade yet?"

"Umm...I'm fine...and no," she peered through the window, glancing at her boyfriend for a second, "obviously I haven't."

"Well, you should." Tori sighed, wondering how much longer she'd have to put up with Marcus. Luckily Hunter wasn't there, or it'd be even worse.

"It's really not that simple. We _broke up_, Marcus, you know that." He frowned as he leaned against the wall and sighed.

"Why'd she dump you?" His question seemed more offensive than what usually came out of his mouth. She'd always kind of known that he and Hunter liked Jade more than they liked her, but it hadn't quite bothered her, because they were horrible, and they only liked Jade for her boobs anyway, so it wasn't exactly insulting to Tori.

"What makes you think _she _dumped _me_?" He smiled at her, and his amusement was awfully reminiscent of Jade herself.

"You've seen her. Who could dump a girl that looks like that?" Tori rolled her eyes and spit out the line she'd fed to a couple of people over the last month.

"Nobody dumped anybody. We both decided that we didn't want to be together anymore, and we moved on. You should try it."

"Yeah, well my dad's not very happy about it... Neither is Mr. Zelling. And Jade was awesome. Me and Hunter really miss her." They only missed ogling at her when Tori wasn't looking. Everyone knew that.

"I'm...sorry about that... Now, if you'll excuse me, I have...things to...yeah." Without a proper goodbye, Tori ducked into the recording booth, quietly taking a seat in the corner while Noah spoke with the other men in the room.

He'd hardly gotten started when Tori had to abandon her boyfriend yet again. Just as he put the headphones on, a quiet knock on the glass behind her head startled Tori, and when she turned around she saw her own manager standing there. He waved at her to leave, so Tori flashed an apologetic smile at Noah and quietly returned to the hallway.

"Marcus told me you were here," James said, steering the pop singer down the hallway without explaining first. "Mr. Z really wants to talk to you. I'm pretty sure it's about this little situation with Mr. McDaniel..."

"Uh, w-what exactly do you mean by that?" She stuttered, suddenly terrified.

"Relax, he doesn't know you were faking." James flashed a mischievous smile at Tori, and her heart dropped into her stomach just as they reached the elevator.

"What?"

"Tori, you're not just my client. I consider you a friend, and I like to make sure that I know my friends. I had a feeling from the beginning that you weren't really dating that girl." Tori still couldn't respond. She wasn't even sure how she was still standing. "I'm not sure what gave Mr. Z that impression, but once he gets something in his head, there's no convincing him otherwise. I was pretty sure you weren't a lesbian when he first started talking about it." The elevator doors opened up on the fifth floor, where the President and Vice President of the company had their offices. "Jade though, I definitely got that vibe from her."

Tori stared at him, still confused as he walked a few steps ahead of her down the hallway. She couldn't speak, and the closer she got to Mr. Zelling's office, it worried her more and more. At the end of the hallway, they reached a large, intricately carved wooden door, and before James opened it, he gave Tori a playful little smile and a pat on the back.

"Changed your mind toward the end though, didn't you?"


	15. Chapter 15

Tori stood with her back to the expensive, one of a kind wooden door separating the hallway from the record company president's office. She had to keep reminding herself to breathe, as her boss, though aware of her presence, had not looked up from his desk. The grandfather clock directly to her right ticked as the pendulum swung back and forth at least twenty times in near silence. He didn't say a thing, and she grew more and more nervous. If James knew, who else did? She wondered when he'd figured it out, and why he hadn't said anything. The thought that Mr. Zelling could figure it out as well popped into her mind, but if he had, wouldn't he have said something by now? And what had James meant when he said she _changed her mind_? Changed her mind about what? About Jade? About herself? The company president's silent was becoming more and more terrifying. If she had to stand there much longer without an explanation, she'd surely lose her mind.

"Well, won't you sit?" The strained and intimidating man in front of her didn't even blink when he ordered Tori to take a seat. When he finally did look up, his green eyes looked right through her and her anxious heart nearly stopped right there.

"Ms. Vega," He spoke very professionally now, but he still scared her. "You are aware of just how important your image is in this industry, correct?"

"Yes, sir." She spit out the words in a voice that sounded too high to be her own.

"So you know that talent alone isn't going to get you anywhere." He barely gave her time to nod before he continued. "And while you _are _very talented - you wouldn't be here if you weren't - that isn't going to make you famous. Being a boring stick in the mud isn't going to get you anywhere either."

"I dont understand." Tori felt insulted, though she wasn't sure what he was trying to say.

"If you continue dating Mr. McDaniel, as I've been told you are, then, pardon me for saying this, there won't be anything special about you. You won't stand out and frankly, people won't care. There are hundreds of other artists who could perform your music. You're replaceable. Your public persona, the _you _that you show to your fans...that is what will make you famous, and sometimes those things...are not good enough, and they need to be...exaggerated." Although it was true, his words still hurt, and Tori struggled to keep herself from crying in front of him. "So to make a long story short, if you're going to _swing both ways, _as they say, it would be best for your career if you swung in the direction of the same sex." Tori only stared back at him, both surprised and confused by this odd conversation.

"I...I understand that, but you can't just tell me who I'm going to love."

"No, of course not!" He put on a smile, as if it were some funny joke. "There's no need to _break up_ with him. What I'm saying is that you'll need to be secretive about your relationship. Your manager tells me he's in the process of getting you a performance on the Late Show?" Tori nodded, confirming the statement that still seemed too good to get her hopes up quite yet. "And we have your album scheduled to drop in what, two weeks?"

"Three, actually." He nodded and stared over her shoulder for a moment, at the door.

"Yes, well, if all goes well, which I believe it will, then you'll likely be getting a taste of the limelight soon, my dear." He paused, and seemed to be waiting for her to understand what he hadn't yet said. "Which means that you very well might get photographed with your _boyfriend_, which will seem awfully contradictory, considering your sexuality is what has attracted the attention to you in the first place. So, you'll need to keep your relationship secret. I'm sure he'll understand. Mr. McDaniel knows just as well as you do that you do have to sacrifice certain things for your career."

"But...but..." She couldn't find the words to speak. She'd _already _been keeping her relationship - flirtationship, really, at the time - with Noah a secret. With Jade gone, she'd finally felt that she didn't need to hide anything anymore, and it had developed into a full-blown committed relationship. Now her boss was asking her to hide it all over again. She couldn't just _refuse_. He was right. He was completely right. If Jade had only stayed a few weeks longer, or maybe a month or two, she wouldn't have this problem. If she'd _stayed_, Tori could pretend she was bisexual and the world wouldn't doubt her because they would have witnessed it. Unfortunately, they'd only managed to convince everyone at the label - though James apparently hadn't fallen for it - and that was only half the game.

"What happened to that attractive woman you brought with you to my party? If you do get that spot on the Late Show, you should bring her with you, for the publicity."

"Oh, I don't...I-"

"We can pay her, if you want. If she won't come easy." Of course he would suggest she fake a relationship with Jade now that she'd already done it.

"No, that's not the problem, it's just she's...she's an actress-"

"Great." He interrupted her but Tori continued without blinking.

"And she's filming a movie in Chicago right now-"

"Even better."

"And I don't know if she'll be done by then."

"Well, you have time. Just think about it. It certainly wouldn't hurt your career. It could help hers as well, you know."

"I do." Tori was starting to get annoyed by this point, but she only continued to smile at Mr. Zelling, hoping he was done now so she could leave and return to her boyfriend. Her boyfriend who she would now basically need to break up with - in the public sense, at least - for her career.

"Wonderful, now-" He was cut off as his door opened and a thin woman strongly resembling an auburn-haired skeleton stepped inside.

"Mr. Zelling, your car is waiting for you downstairs."

"Right." He seemed conflicted for a moment, and then waved Tori away with a flick of his hand. "You can go, Ms. Vega. I believe I've made myself clear. Have a wonderful day." With an awkward smile, Tori shuffled out of the room, past Zelling's tiny secretary, and practically sprinted back to the elevator. When she finally returned to the recording booth where Noah was, she peered in through the glass with a little apprehension. He looked up almost immediately, with a disappointed expression on his face that Tori found concerning. She watched him for a moment from the hallway, dreading going inside. Honestly, she was wishing she'd never agreed to come with him, even wishing the night before had never happened at all. She could have woken up in her own bed that morning, without that inescapable feeling of disappointment. Instead, she woke up in bed with a man who she couldn't openly date for the sake of her career. She woke up with a man who, now that she'd quit lying to herself, Tori knew really wasn't everything she'd wanted.

Cautiously, she stepped back into the room and took her previous seat, going over what she'd say to him when he was finished. He seemed to be getting rather frustrated with his work, and it worried Tori, but when he finally finished and took her out to lunch, he'd calmed down almost immediately. Tori told him that their relationship couldn't be public anymore, and surprisingly, he understood and took it well. He even told her that his own manager had been making comments about dumping Tori in favor of someone "a bit more country" so amazingly enough, it worked out for the both of them if they pretended to be single in public. Tori had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that this would cause problems, but she set her sights on her career instead and tried to think of that as she practiced acting like she and Noah were only friends, and found it surprisingly easy.

…

Back in Chicago, the cast and crew of Jade's movie was loading up their equipment and belongings, in preparation for the trip to the second location. Jade stood outside of the van she'd be riding in, trying to resist destroying her irritating costar, who unfortunately would be accompanying her in that same vehicle. The hour and a half long drive wouldn't have seemed so intimidating if she'd been able to make it on her own, or at the very least, with someone bearable.

Taking a seat in the back of the van, Jade set her bag beside her and curled up against the window, praying that Travis Hall, mediocre actor and terrible conversationalist, wouldn't sit by her. Unfortunately he did, and two of Jade's other costars hadn't even had a chance to climb into the van before he started hitting on her.

"Listen, Jade, when we get to the new location, there's probably not gonna be much to do when we aren't filming, so I'm just gonna offer right now - any time you get bored, you can totally do me."

"Stop talking to me." He only rolled his eyes and picked up his phone with a mischievous smile. Jade leaned forward and tried to make conversation with Lilly - the actress playing her character's best friend - instead. They weren't very close, but seeing as they had nothing else to do, both women were quick to take any opportunity to entertain themselves on the ride out of the city. They ran out of things to talk about after only ten minutes, so Jade leaned back against her seat and closed her eyes, while Lilly spoke to Andrew, the fourth passenger in the car. He played Lilly's character's unfaithful boyfriend, and the two of them had become close friends over the course of filming the movie, which meant that they had plenty to talk about. This left Jade in the back seat with nothing to do but ignore the fact that Travis was staring at her with a disturbing smile on his face. Jade tried to filter out Lilly and Andrew's conversation, but she instantly snapped back to reality at the sound of Travis asking her a question.

"So you're a lesbian?" She turned to stare at him with her mouth open, wondering how he could know that. Her little relationship with Tori hadn't exactly been successful. They'd only managed to convince the people inside the record label, who already thought Tori was a lesbian anyway.

"What?"

"You're a lesbian. That's why you won't sleep with me." He had a big smile on his face, which only grew bigger as their two co-stars turned around to stare at her, having heard Travis' loud and annoying voice.

"I won't sleep with you because you're _stupid_ and _I don't like you._" She clarified, adding in a softer voice, "How'd you know?"

"I googled you."

"And what?" Andrew asked, smiling at Jade while Lilly sat beside him, looking very uncomfortable. "She didn't like it?" Travis laughed and smacked Andrew on the shoulder, congratulating him for his stupid joke.

"Actually, I was bored and curious, so I googled all of us," He held up his pearphone, as if the other three didn't understand what device he'd used. "and you," He pointed at Lilly,"are really boring. All I got was stuff about your movies. You really need a more interesting personal life." He pointed the finger at Andrew, "You are a big troublemaker and apparently you got fired from your last movie."

"That is _not_ true." His face turned red and he started squirming in his seat, like it really mattered whether his reputation was unfounded or not. "I had to back out to film this one."

"We know dude." Travis patted him on the shoulder again. "Turns out there's a retired football player with the same name as me, so when I search myself all I get is stuff about him..." Travis sighed in disappointment, and then they all three, at the same time, turned to face Jade. "And Jade here, searching her name only brings up one topic. There are a lot of articles about this, actually. Don't know how more people don't know about this yet." He looked down at the screen and began to read from it, "Pictured: Tori Vega," he turned the phone around and began to show it to the group. Displayed on his screen very clearly was the photo that had been taken of the two women following Tori's last performance at the music festival in Santa Barbara, "with her _girlfriend, actress Jade West_."

When Jade finally looked up from the picture on his phone, Travis and the other two were still staring at her, like they were waiting for her to react negatively.

"What?" They only kept staring. "Do you want me to deny it? It's obviously true."

"Isn't this Tori chick- Doesn't she sing that song from that phone commercial? You know, the one that supposedly has a super long battery life or something?

"Yeah, yeah, I know that commercial. Good song." Andrew nodded, without taking his eyes off Jade.

"I have that song on my phone." Lilly held up her pearphone and started searching through it. Jade didn't have the energy to tell her that she didn't want to hear it.

"Yeah, that's her." Ignoring Jade's dismal mood, her castmates started listening to the song on Lilly's phone, dancing obnoxiously to it while Jade sat curled up in the corner, wishing she were dead.

By the time they'd played the song a third time, Jade took out her own phone to see for herself just what came up when someone searched her name. Travis wasn't exaggerating, she soon found out. There were at least ten articles in a row containing that photograph, with Jade's name included in the caption that officially outed her. After the eleventh one, the results strayed to irrelevant articles about people who shared her first name, though a few of the articles were old ones from her days at Hollywood Arts.

Out of curiosity, Jade Googled Tori, only mildly surprised to find out that there were a couple of pages of articles mentioning her, some about her sexuality, while most were about the LG commercial and her upcoming album. Jade considered buying it for a moment, but then she decided it wouldn't be worth paying money for it when she could probably pry one out of Tori for free.

When she got bored of reading about herself and Tori on the internet, Jade opened her text message inbox, skimming through the last few - from Beck and her agent - until she got to the last one that Tori had sent her. She opened it up and hit reply, typing out four short words,

"We've hit the net." Less than a minute went by before her phone buzzed with Tori's response.

"What?"

"Google yourself." She ended the conversation by putting her phone back in her bag, vowing not to touch it again until they arrived at the set.

…

By the end of the second week, Tori was getting bored of hiding indoors with her boyfriend. They'd watched so many movies she was sure she'd be completely fine if she never saw another one, and Noah's only other suggestions involved the bedroom. Frankly, she wasn't very interested in going in there with him. He wasn't getting any better, and she didn't have the heart to tell him that he was bad in bed. He was quickly running out of jokes and conversation topics, and while she still cared about him very much, Tori couldn't stand to be indoors with him for much longer.

It was getting to her already, and Tori hadn't even had to talk to Jade about accompanying her to her performance on Late Night - a performance she'd nearly had a heart attack upon learning that it was official - yet. Having to share his girlfriend surely wouldn't be easy for Noah, and she dreaded telling him, but she had to eventually. After finding out that the photo of her and Jade had been spreading through the internet, Tori knew that she couldn't ask any other girl to go with her, and James had made it clear to her over the past few days that she needed to bring her 'girlfriend' with. The show was still weeks away, but she couldn't wait until the last minute.

"Tori." Noah pulled her from her thoughts with a concerned voice. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking about work." She told the truth, technically. He frowned and pulled her closer on the couch. Pressing one small kiss to her lips, he said to her,

"Don't do that." Noah kissed her again, deeper this time, and she went along with it because anything was better than thinking about work. He was a pretty good kisser, at least, so she enjoyed it until he tried to take it further.

"No, not right now," She mumbled into his neck as he trailed his lips down her chest and tried to urge her toward the bedroom. He immediately sat up straight and stared at her, looking both confused and irritated at the same time.

"Not right now, or not ever?"

"Noah," She started to plead with him, but realized she couldn't explain anything honestly without making him even more upset. A moment passed in silence before he spoke.

"Are you not attracted to me? Is that it?" He looked hurt, but he was accusing her, and he sounded mean for the first time since she'd met him. She was starting to feel like maybe that _was _it, but she didn't want to believe that. Tori wanted to be attracted to him, and she wanted to love him, because he seemed like the perfect man to do those things with. He was a good guy, and she'd never had one of those before. She wanted this one, but even more, she wanted to mean it when she told herself that.

"No, that's not it. Noah, I love you-"

"But you're not attracted to me sexually..." He sounded heartbroken and she wondered what she'd said that had told him that.

"No, you're being ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?" He questioned, getting even more worked up. They were officially having their first big fight, Tori realized. "What's ridiculous is you trying to deny it, trying to act like I don't have a reason to think that. The last person you were with was a woman, Tori. How am I supposed to be confident that you love me when I know that I have...I have parts that you don't always like, and I don't have parts that you sometimes do like. I can't make you happy 100% of the time."

"Noah, that's not how it works. I just... I... You said my sexuality didn't bother you."

"Well, it wouldn't, if you hadn't gotten so distant once we started having sex. I don't...did I do something wrong? I don't understand, Tori. I don't think I'm asking too much from you. It's not like I want it all the time. I love you. I want to show you that, but you...you just don't seem to be attracted to me, that way, anymore..."

"Noah, I swear, that's not it, I...I just..." By now, words were just coming out of her mouth. She was saying whatever she could think of, to calm him down long enough to give her a chance to _truly _fall in love with him like she wanted to.

"I'm just no good..." He slowly started to realize what the real problem was. "You don't want to have sex with me because I'm not good at it..." She had a hard time denying it. It was true, but he was upset now. He was embarrassed, and she couldn't blame him. She wanted to be honest, but she didn't want to hurt him any more just yet.

"I...no, I...That's not..."

"Stop denying it! Just tell me the truth." His face was bright red and his eyes were shining, on the verge of angry tears. She wanted so badly to feel worse than she did. She could only imagine how he was feeling. Noah loved her exactly the way that she wanted to love him, but she couldn't, for some reason. She'd been telling herself for weeks that she loved him because she just assumed that she did - and maybe that was partially the truth. She _did _love him, but the more honest she was with herself, the more she realized that she didn't love him _that way_. She still partially clung to a small piece of hope that she was just taking it slow, but she wasn't holding on tight enough. All of her previous relationships had ended because she hadn't chosen the right guy, and now she _had _chosen the right guy. She was just the wrong girl.

Maybe she was always hurt by the ones that she loved because she could only fall in love with people who would hurt her. Maybe she subconsciously knew that every man she'd been with would only cause her pain in the end. She'd gone into this relationship hoping to be treated differently - and she was. The only problem was that she'd gone into this relationship assuming that she had those kind of feelings for Noah, denying the fact that she didn't.

"Okay, fine." She took a deep breath, and then spit it out to get it all over with. "You're not very good in bed, but that can change. I know it's embarrassing and you're probably ashamed about it, but you can get better, you just need to-"

"You know what? I don't need you telling me how I feel, or what I can do about it." He stood up with an aggravated look on his face and ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. "I'm gonna go. I'm out of here." He stood up, and just like that, he stomped out of her apartment and disappeared. A part of Tori was relieved that the conversation was over with, and surprised that it had gone over so quickly, but the rest of her was hurt. She hadn't wanted to embarrass him, but she couldn't just stay in a relationship like that. Honestly, Noah just wasn't stimulating enough to make up for his lack of talent in the bedroom and her lack of true attraction to him. He was a truly nice guy, he had a decent sense of humor, he appreciated her weirdness, and they had very similar taste in a lot of things, but there just wasn't anything special. It was like how Mr. Zelling had described her career. There were plenty of good things, but nothing great. Unfortunately, there wasn't really anything about Noah that made him irreplaceable. If things didn't change soon, it would be completely useless to stay with him. They'd both end up miserable in the future.

Tori wasn't completely sure what the status of her relationship with Noah was now. When he left, had he meant for good? Had she been dumped? Would she be at all devastated if she had been? It bothered her so much more that she wasn't feeling horrible enough after their fight, and that feeling of failure is what prompted her to solve her problem the same way that she had started many others. She drank herself to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Thank you for your reviews and patience. I appreciate both.**_

* * *

><p>The sun came up and shone brightly through the windows of Tori's dead silent apartment, waking her before she was even close to being ready to face the day. It was a slow process, and as she started to regain consciousness, she became aware of every little ache in her sore body. She had a terrible cramp in her neck from lying on her side, on the couch, and it was incredibly hot in the living room - the thermostat must have been messed with at some point, because Tori could feel a thin layer of sweat covering nearly her entire body. Adding to that, there was a warm body behind her, an arm thrown over her side, holding her just tightly enough to keep her from rolling off of the couch. She slowly realized that Noah had come back, that he'd apologized, or she'd apologized, or they both had. They had made up, obviously, though she'd been too drunk by that point to properly remember it just yet. The fact that she still hadn't sobered up proved that.<p>

Tori groaned as she tried to open her eyes, but it was useless. She was stuck in that paralyzing stage of sleep where she was conscious enough to be able to comprehend what was going on around her, but was still too far gone to move even her eyelids. When she let herself relax, she slowly came to, and just as her eyes fluttered open, Tori realized that the body behind her smelled too good and felt too soft to be Noah. The arm draped over her was pale white, not the the darker tan color of her boyfriend's skin, and as her vision cleared up, Tori spotted the edge of a star, inked onto the forearm of the person holding her.

"Jade?" She mumbled the name, but her throat was too dry for it to come out properly.

"Mmhmm?" The uninvited actress hummed behind her, confirming her identity though she was hardly any more awake than Tori was.

"What are you...When..." Before Tori had a chance to properly form a sentence, Jade propped herself up behind the singer, slipping out from behind her and off of the couch entirely.

"Go back to sleep." She whispered tiredly as she crouched beside Tori's face. "I'll explain once you've sobered up, you drunken idiot." Too tired to fight it or take offense to the other girl's harsh but playful words, Tori rolled onto her back and slowly drifted back to dreamland, while Jade snuck into the bathroom. She splashed some water in her face and stole a swig of Tori's mouthwash from under the sink. Once she felt a little more awake, she looked up at her reflection in the mirror, only mildly surprised by the mess she saw looking back at her.

"What are you doing?" Jade asked herself as she tried to rub away her smudged leftover eye makeup. It wouldn't come off, so she rifled through Tori's things once again, looking for some makeup remover in order to avoid looking like a drug addicted raccoon. She contemplated showering, but decided that was probably a bit much, considering she hadn't even seen Tori's face in over a month and a half, and the girl was hardly aware that she was even there in the first place. Using Tori's shower without her knowledge this time would probably mean overstepping even Jade's boundaries, under the current circumstances.

Cleaned up as best as she could, Jade finally deemed herself ready to return to the land of the living, so she wandered quietly back into the hall, making her way to the kitchen. She was in the mood to cook something, so she began to look through Tori's cupboards and refrigerator in as near silence as she could possibly manage. Eventually, Jade decided that Tori was in a deep enough sleep that she wouldn't be disturbed by a little bit of noise - not that she would really care all that much if she did wake her - so she started to make breakfast. Gathering all the materials she would need, Jade got to work, keeping an eye on inebriated Tori, who was passed out cold on the couch in a rather unattractive and uncomfortable position.

It had been almost an hour since she'd woken up by the time Jade finished the second omelet she'd prepared _out of the_ _goodness of her heart_ - or as a peace offering she could use to bribe Tori into forgiving her, truthfully. She placed the food inside the microwave in an attempt to keep it from cooling off too quickly, and moved on to the drinks. Tori had run out of milk, of course, so remembering that there was a convenience store across the street, Jade slipped Tori's keys out of her purse on the counter and took a short trip downstairs to buy a gallon. There was a line, and more traffic filling the street than usual, so it took longer to return than she'd intended. By the time Jade finally got back upstairs, Tori had woken for a second time and was sitting up on the couch, looking around the room as if she were questioning where she was. When Jade noisily closed the door behind her and stepped further into the apartment, Tori snapped to attention and looked relieved for only a second, before a different kind of confusion crossed her face.

"I had to get milk. You're out." Tori didn't say a word, and only stared through her. "And I made you an omelet." She moved to the kitchen when the room stayed silent and pulled the food out of the microwave, slipping Tori's breakfast onto a separate plate. The girl's eyes widened at the sight of this and she repeated the word,

"Omelet?" With a nod, Jade poured two glasses of milk, taking a sip from one before she gathered some silverware and the salt and pepper shakers - things she knew the location of due to her frequent rifling through Tori's things in the past - and then turned toward the living room, only to be stopped by one last thought.

"You're not one of those freaks that puts ketchup on their eggs, are you?" Tori only shook her head, still staring right through Jade like she thought she was hallucinating. It still seemed like a pretty good possibility to her. Not only was Jade _there, _but she'd made her breakfast - willingly.

"You made me an omelet...? Why?" Jade had always been known for having a response for everything, and when she hesitated, Tori asked another question. "And why are you here?"

"I'll get to that in a minute." Tori's anxious visitor answered the last one first and added, "I wanted an omelet. I'm not gonna be a complete asshole and only make one." Tori still seemed a little out of it when Jade brought her the second plate, but she took it and started eating without questioning it. "I cracked too many eggs anyway."

"This is really good..." Tori uttered in amazement, once she'd swallowed her first bite. Jade immediately took offense to the tone of surprise and rolled her eyes, responding spitefully,

"Of course it is." The disoriented one looked down into her lap in embarrassment, missing the sight of the same expression on Jade's face. Neither of them said a word as the air conditioner finally kicked on, and the air grew thick. Tori cleared her throat and tried to cut the tension with some small talk.

"When did you get back?" She softened her voice as she spoke this time, now that she'd already been snapped at.

"Last night." Jade answered, staring into her omelet as if it were more interesting than the conversation she was supposed to be having. "I just...really didn't want to be home alone yet. I brought my stuff inside, and then I got in my car and I drove around for a while...and I ended up going to a bar, all by myself like the giant loser I am." She sighed and took another bite of her breakfast, not bothering to look up. "I had a couple drinks but the bartender was a jerk so I left, but then as I walked outside, I realized I was only about a block from your apartment...and I guess I just got it in my head that I should come see you, and apologize, only when I got up to your apartment, you were _hammered._ Like, sloshed out of your mind. I was going to leave then, but I thought that...I thought you might end up hurting yourself or something if I left you alone, I mean... You'd cut your finger on something before I got there and you were whining because you couldn't find a bandaid, so obviously you were pretty helpless... I figured I'd stay a little while, but you were being _really _weird and - you flashed me, by the way. Twice."

"Oh god." Tori's face fell into her hands and she abandoned her omelet, out of extreme embarrassment. She didn't know what to say and she couldn't properly read Jade's reaction. "I'm so sorry. I don't-"

"It's fine. I knew what to expect this time." Though her voice sounded oddly reassuring, Tori was still too humiliated to look Jade in the eye.

"Anyway, I eventually got you to _sit down_, and a few minutes later you were passed out in my lap, so we just crashed on your couch, since you probably would've accidentally killed yourself if I'd left and all..."

"I can't believe that happened. I'm _so _sorry." Tori's face had turned an unnatural violet color in humiliation, and she struggled to catch her breath as she rasped, "I'm so embarrassed right now, I just... I wasn't having a good day, and I figured I was home alone and I couldn't really get up to anything too bad, so I kind of..."

"I get it." Jade said with a laugh, "Since it was so humiliating for you, it was kind of fun for me." She shot a teasing grin at Tori, only to add a second later, "Except for when you got all touchy feely and I had to keep fighting you off of me. That got kind of old... But I mean, I can't really say much. I'd been drinking a little too, so... At least this time you didn't-" She cut herself off right away, and her cheeks turned a deep scarlet, standing out on her pure white face before she moved on.

"Well, actually, speaking of that... I guess that's kind of the whole reason I came here. I'm...sorry about everything that happened." Jade cleared her throat and spit out another sentence with a pained look on her face. "You were right. I _was _overreacting. You just... I guess... _You scared the hell out of me_, Tori. I didn't know what else to do." A smile appeared on Tori's face, and she watched Jade for a while, not saying anything until the unnaturally apologetic actress realized she was being stared at and started to visibly feel awkward.

"So you forgive me?"

"_Yeah," _Jade answered with an eyeroll and accompanying smile. "I do. I was freaked out at the time, but now I guess I realize that you just get horny as hell when you drink, so it really wasn't a big deal... Do _you_ forgive me?"

"Yes...I probably should have warned you a little better than I did. But in my defense, you've known me long enough by now, you should have known already." By now the tension between the two of them had disappeared, and they were both laughing about an event that they'd both been sure had destroyed their relationship barely two months earlier.

"Maybe it's time to stop turning down invitations when you and Andre ask me to go out with you."

"Definitely. No one else ever has time. It's been just the two of us for _months_." Tori smiled, still red in the face, and then returned to eating her eggs, which were getting cold on her plate. Jade did the same thing for a while, but she finished hers first, and when she set her fork down on her plate, she felt obligated to keep talking, just to avoid making things between them weird again.

"So...any reason you felt obligated to drink yourself into a coma last night?" Tori's face fell and she officially abandoned her remaining breakfast, setting it down on the floor beside Jade's plate. "You kept mumbling something about bad sex. Please tell me that's it, because that's hilarious." This time Jade had a big smile on her face, and something about being teased made it less upsetting for Tori. _"Does Noah have a tiny ark?" _Tori's face burned bright red once again, but she couldn't help but smile at how ridiculous it sounded on Jade's lips.

"It's not... The problem's just... It's a lot of things, really. It's complicated. We had our first big fight yesterday and I'm just...I don't know." Jade offered up a surprisingly comforting smile, but didn't have the chance to say anything out loud before there was a knock on the door.

"Ugh, what's wrong with the stupid buzzer anymore?" Tori grumbled as she stood up and went to see who the unexpected and unwelcome visitor was, while Jade picked up the plates and took them to the kitchen. She was in the process of putting the remains of Tori's omelet in the refrigerator when she heard a vaguely familiar masculine voice ring through the apartment.

"I'm _so_ sorry about last night. I just... I was embarrassed, and frustrated, and this whole privacy thing has been getting to m-" Noah's voice dropped off abruptly when he stepped far enough into the apartment to see Jade standing behind the island in the kitchen. He stared at her in disbelief and all she could think to do was wave. Tori was standing behind her boyfriend, looking like she was contemplating jumping out the window, for obvious reasons, as it was clear to everyone in the room what Noah was thinking.

"One fight and you just can't resist calling her?" Noah finally turned away from Jade, unleashing his fury on Tori instead.

"I swear, it's not what you're thinking-"

"Oh, you know what I'm thinking? What am I _supposed _to be thinking, when I come over to apologize to my girlfriend and find her with her ex?" Jade's conscience failed to tell her it was a bad idea to egg him on, and she soon found herself digging the same grave she'd just filled back up, interrupting Tori and Noah's fight to add fuel to the fire.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." She spoke loudly, leering at Tori as she interrupted the duo's argument. "I smell like you."

"You are _not_ helping!" Tori was glaring at her, and she seemed completely serious, but that didn't stop Jade. She only smiled weakly at Noah, who was staring at her in shock, looking like he was close to tears.

"Come join me when you're finished." With that, she winked at Tori and took off for the bathroom before someone murdered her, laughing at the couple's misery as she went.

"She's joking." Tori instantly tried to assure her angry boyfriend. "I _swear_, she's joking. She's being an _asshole,"_ She shouted this last part after Jade, who only took it with a little more laughter, "but she's joking."

The sound of the water pouring from the showerhead drowned out just enough of Tori's fight with her unfortunate little boyfriend to make it unintelligible. Jade attempted to listen in for a moment, but soon gave up and undressed, climbing into Tori's shower with an odd feeling of satisfaction. She studied the backs of the many half empty bottles lining the side of the tub for a few minutes while the water poured down on her, playing a game of eenie meenie as she attempted to decide which shampoo she wanted to steal. She didn't have the chance to make that decision, however, because just as she reached for one, the bathroom door flew open, and the shower curtain was yanked back almost instantaneously.

"_Hey!" _ Without any hesitation, Jade took back the shower curtain, clinging to it in shock, as Tori stood on the other side, ready to rip someone's head off. Preferably Jade's.

"_What is wrong with you?" _Something about the angry look on Tori's face overpowered the fact that the only thing shielding Jade from the furious woman was a thin little shower curtain, which felt a little like a bulletproof vest at the moment.

"Honestly, a lot of things..."

"I can't believe you. I will _never _understand the way your head works. I don't... Why would you do that to me after you only _just now _apologized for freaking out on me and acting like a jerk _two months ago_? You...I don't..." She groaned loudly and rubbed her eyes. She had a splitting headache and all the yelling wasn't doing anything for it. "Noah's a good guy, and I- I already feel bad enough because I'm just, it's not there, I'm not physically attracted to him, and now _you, _you have to go and make him think I'm cheating on him!"

"Wait, what? Repeat that for me, will you?" Jade had only comprehended one little part of Tori's angry rant, and she seemed to find it funny. Grinding her teeth, Tori stared at her, bloodshot eyes narrowed and cheeks burning in anger as she should her head in disbelief.

"You're unbelievable." Tori turned to leave, but stopped at the bathroom door to add one last thing with a slight smirk. "Nice tattoo."


	17. Chapter 17

_**Sorry this one's so short...I don't really have an excuse. It just is. **_

_**Thank you very very much for all the nice reviews on the last chapter. :) I've now exceeded 300 reviews with this fic, which is a lot more than I've got on anything in years. I'm glad you all still like it so much.**_

* * *

><p><em><em>With the opportunity to finish her shower in peace, Jade took her time, mostly to avoid talking to Tori again for as long as she could, but partly because it was fun to invade the girl's space and she knew it must be killing her, having to wait for so long to tell her on-again friend off. When Jade finally did leave the bathroom, she found Tori in the hall, lying sprawled out on the floor in a way that suggested she'd been out there for the whole time. They made eye contact and neither girl moved for at least a full sixty seconds. Time trickled by - or maybe even stopped - until Jade chose to be the first to speak.

"What, were you waiting out here hoping to sneak a peek up my towel or something?" She was grateful she'd changed in the bathroom, because if she'd actually still been in a towel, Tori certainly could have seen up it from the spot where she was lying.

"_No," _The angry musician growled, pushing herself up into a seated position, "I was actually sitting out here thinking of all the different ways I could _kill you_."

"Well, what'd you come up with?" Tori didn't find Jade's enthusiasm very funny, and continued to glare at her, unable to find words to express how humiliated she was.

"Okay, seriously, what's the point of having a boyfriend that you don't want to sleep with?" Jade sighed, disappointed with herself as she sat down and motioned for Tori to open up to her. "You don't want to be with him anymore, do you? I was only helping you."

"Yeah, I wouldn't really call that helping." The desire to commit murder suddenly gone, Tori now turned to look at Jade, wondering how she could possibly feel so comfortable talking to her after all they'd gone through together. "...I just, I really don't want to hurt him. He's a good person, Jade. He's the first boyfriend I've ever had who actually truly loves and respects me, and I've wasted his time. I've embarrassed him, and I've hurt him, and I've kept him from finding someone who is...better for him." She paused to compose herself, and Jade awkwardly reached out to comfort her in the best way she knew how. "Maybe he's not that..." An upward glance revealed a reddened face, "well, _bad _at...you know..."

"God, Tori, we're adults, not sixth graders. You can say it." With a laugh, Jade watched Tori's face as she grew more embarrassed and less upset. "So he put his you-know-what you-know-where and-"

"You don't have to explain how it works! I know, okay?" Tori sounded agitated, and sensing that it wasn't the best time to tease her, Jade placed her hand on Tori's back and tried to express with her face what she couldn't say with her mouth, before Tori interrupted. "This is just...I can't believe we're talking about this right now. I haven't seen you in months and now you're...and I'm... _Anyway_, things with Noah just...aren't working out. I tried. I tried _a lot,_ I just, It wasn't even _close _to satisfying, and I thought that...it must be him, because, I mean..." She went silent for a few seconds as Jade subconsciously rubbed her back, completely unaware of how intimate this moment had become. "Well, now I'm thinking it _was_ all me. I mean, you can't really...if you're notattracted to someone...can you?"

"Don't look at me." Jade shrugged, retrieving her arm from behind Tori's back. Clasping her hands together, she set them in her lap and sighed, before spitting out a bit of unusually sincere advice. "Just dump him. You need to be honest. It's really _not_ that hard, trust me. Sure, if he really does love you...you'll be the cause of a lot of pain for him..." Her voice faded out and she started to smile, but she quickly realized she'd been talking and continued. "If you don't tell him soon, though, it'll hurt a lot more in the end. Trust me, it doesn't feel good to know that you're the one who loves more." With a nod, Tori accepted Jade's advice, though she'd known deep down that she had to do exactly what she'd just been told. Venting to Jade about all the scrambled thoughts in her head had only been helping her get to the point where she could rip the bandaid off quickly.

"I'm sorry..." Jade looked confused, unsure what Tori was apologizing for until she opened her mouth again, "that you've felt that way before."

"It's something you get over eventually." Tori stared into the bright eyes in front of her, uncomfortably aware of how many times she was blinking as she tried to find something else to say. Her mind was blank, and she couldn't just look away. Jade was staring back at her in such a vulnerable, emotional way, and it was strange to think that they had ever felt the same kind of emotions in their vastly different lives. Tori had always had trouble seeing Jade as someone whose heart could be broken, whose feelings could be hurt, but Jade was just as human as anyone else was, and _did _feel that way from time to time. Just then, Tori realized that she probably felt that way a lot more often than most people did.

Jade soon found herself leaning in, involuntarily pulled closer to her companion as her mind slowed down to a speed she hadn't run at in years. She had no idea what she was thinking, but the look on Tori's face was practically begging her to get closer, and Jade's brain was so muddled that she couldn't make herself stop. They'd cut the space between them in half, slowly realizing what was about to happen just as a deafening screeching noise ripped them apart, blaring several times before either girl recognized it as the fire alarm.

"Jesus, what the-"

"I think that's the fire alarm." Jade pulled herself up, searching around the room for the bag she'd brought with her the night before. Snatching it from the ground by the couch, she turned to sneer at Tori, back in her usual form as if the last several minutes had never happened.

"Of course it's the fire alarm! What else could it be? Nobody makes _music_ that bad. Not even you." Jade sounded especially vicious as the two of them vacated Tori's apartment, making their way down the hall to the rarely used staircase.

"You don't have to be a gank about it." Jade completely ignored the hurt in Tori's voice, and mocked her as she followed the building's tenant down to the parking lot.

"_You don't have to be a gank about it." _

"Jade."

"_Jade."_

"Would you _stop?_ There could be a fire in my building right now, and you're not helping!" Jade shrugged as they reached the ground level, smiling at the back of Tori's head as the irritated girl led the way outside.

"Not my fault your neighbors can't cook."

"Can't you just-" She was cut off by the sight of a crowd of her neighbors, maybe ten or fifteen people, standing in the parking lot looking worried. Tori kept still, watching the building for several minutes as nothing happened. Jade recognized that it was time to be quiet, so she stood silently at Tori's side, playing with the strap on her purse as she debated leaving. Soon enough, a bald man with a large, red mustache came out of the building looking completely unconcerned. Tori vaguely recognized him as the building's superintendent, whom she'd had very little contact with since moving in. He addressed the building's residents in a bored, monotone voice, explaining that someone had pulled the fire alarm, there was no real threat, and they could all go back inside. Tori hesitated as everyone else went straight for the front door, and Jade latched onto that hesitation, grabbing a hold of Tori's arm and exclaiming,

"Lets go!"

"Go? Where?"

"I don't know, lunch? Come on. We're already outside and I'm _hungry_."

"But we just had breakfast..."

"So what? I'm starving. That was like, three hours ago. We're getting lunch."

Though still apprehensive and subconsciously nervous due to the near-kiss she'd almost forgotten, Tori gave in and let Jade lead her down the block, to a fast food restaurant across from where she'd parked her car the night before. They ordered and took a seat in the corner, where they ate in pure silence for several minutes, hardly making a sound in the other's direction until they were almost done with their meals.

"I saw this movie once where this guy was murdered by a group of fast food workers, and they chopped him up and served him to their customers, who had no idea their cheeseburgers were made out of a health inspector instead of genetically modified and neglected cows." Tori immediately dropped the french fry she had been about to put in her mouth and stared blank-faced at Jade for a moment as disgust took over. "Do you think human tastes much different from beef? Would we actually know it if we were eating man-burgers?"

"You know, of the two of us, I think it's a lot more likely that you would know the answer to that." Dismissing Jade's appetite-squelching story as a typical Jade thing, Tori took a sip of her drink and decided she was finished eating for the day...or possibly for life.

"Why? Do I seem like the cannibal type to you?" Unphased by everything she'd just said, Jade took one last bite of her cheeseburger and smiled closed-mouthed at Tori as she chewed it. "Are you afraid I'm gonna take you in the bathroom and eat you to find out?" Though she desperately wanted to look away, Tori couldn't tear her eyes off of Jade, who was staring back at her with a similar, mildly embarrassed expression on her face.

"_Anyway._" Jade turned her eyes down to her fries, spread out on the wrapping her cheeseburger had come in. Her pale face turned even more pink as nobody said anything.

"Can we go back yet?" Asking only to break the silence, Tori was surprised when Jade answered with a quick negatory.

"No." She looked up with a smile, but it faded quickly and her facial expression turned to a rather pained one.

"I, uh...last night, on my way to your apartment, I was kind of...going over things in my head, imagining how I wanted them to go, and of course, when I got there, you ruined that, and I didn't get the chance to-"

"Oh my god. Oh my god!" Tori interrupted with an excited, wide-eyed screech. Jade let out a breath, half disappointed, half relieved, and once Tori had calmed down, she asked her,

"What are you doing?"

"Shh! Listen, listen!" Rolling her eyes, Jade leaned in a few inches and tilted one ear up, still confused why Tori was freaking out. "Are you listening?"

"Yes, I'm listening! What-"

"They're playing my song!" She beat her hands on the table twice and started swaying back and forth in her seat. She looked like a child to Jade, who could only stare at her in confusion.

"Yeah, so? That ad plays during almost every commercial break. You can't get away from it, trust me. Everybody on the planet has heard your song by now." Tori pulled her phone out of her bag and started texting James, bouncing up and down in her seat the entire time.

"I don't care. This is the first time I've ever heard it on the radio. They're playing the whole song on the radio in a public place, Jade!"

"Congratulations. Now your song will become even more overplayed and then a month from now, everyone's going to want to jump off a cliff the second they hear it." Hearing that comment immediately calmed Tori, killing her good mood. A slight frown marked her face and Jade felt bad for a splinter of a second, before she started to grab her bag so she could leave.

"Why are you being mean again?" The twenty-two year old woman looked and sounded like a child as she reacted to Jade's mood swing negatively.

"I'm not...I'm sorry. It's time for me to go home now." Tori didn't realize Jade was serious until the actress walked out the door without giving a better answer. Snatching her bag from the seat beside her, Tori abandoned her leftover food and ran outside before Jade could cross the street.

"Will you be my girlfriend again?" The sound of Tori's exclamation stopped Jade but she didn't immediately turn around. The only sign that she'd heard her at all was her lack of movement. The sound of the cars on the street were just a slight buzzing in Tori's ears as she waited for Jade to respond. "I still need you."

"I'll think about it." With one quick glance over her shoulder, Jade crossed the street, leaving a cloud of confusion behind her as she went.


	18. Chapter 18

First thing Saturday morning, Tori found herself standing in the hallway outside of Noah's apartment. She'd been standing there for several minutes, having an internal conversation she should've had long before showing up. She wasn't entirely sure if they'd broken up, but it had felt that way. She'd given him a few days, but nobody had really clarified what state their relationship was in. If they were officially finished, then coming to see him was a mistake. She'd only make it worse if she kept showing up. If they weren't done quite yet, she certainly needed to make it clear that they couldn't be together anymore, and if that were the case, she wanted to do it gently. She didn't quite know how to explain to him the way that she was feeling. She was started to fear that she'd never gather the courage to knock on the door and try, but before Tori could make a decision, it was flung open. Noah stood on the other side, where a blank expression quickly appeared on his face, but he took his time speaking.

"What are you doing here?"

"I just...I wanted to make sure... I... Noah, I never wanted to hurt you, and I'm _so _sorry that I did. I don't want to say _it's not you, it's me, _but it really is. When I met you, I thought...I thought that you were exactly the man I was supposed to be with...handsome, funny, _genuine_...and so I convinced myself that I felt things that I really didn't, and I... I fell in love with you. I swear, I really did- I _do _love you...just not the way that you want me to. It took me too long to realize that, and for that I'm _really _sorry." He hadn't moved, and he still didn't, even when Tori quit speaking. "I'm sorry I wasted your time. I wish I would have realized sooner that...you might be the perfect man for me, but I don't want to be with a man." Noah's hand slid down the left side of the door frame and stayed there for a few seconds, before falling to his side as he finally relieved some of the tension and said something.

"Oh. Well...I guess...I'm sorry it didn't work out."

"...We don't have to be friends, if you don't want to. I mean...everyone says "we can still be friends" when they break up but it doesn't usually work out that way, and I just...I know this must be really awkward for you. I don't want to make it worse."

"Yeah..." Tori was hoping he'd close the door so she could bring herself to walk away already, but he just stood there, scratching his left eyebrow with a look that said he couldn't be bothered to talk to her. "Well, good luck with everything."

"You too. See you around." With that, he closed the door, and Tori walked away, slowly sinking into the floor with each humiliated step. When she got back to her car, she felt a little better, now that it was over and she'd basically put the level of awkwardness through the roof, ensuring she'd probably never have to talk to Noah again. That would save her a lot of pain, for sure.

Tori turned the key in the ignition, but the engine grumbled and died out. She tried it again and got the same result, over and over until she'd turned the key at least twenty times and had to give up on hoping it would work. Searching beneath the steering wheel, Tori found the hood release and pushed the button, as if she really had a clue what to do after that. She looked at the foreign contraption at the front of her car and tried to remember all the tips her dad had given her when she'd started driving, but nothing good came to mind. She found the car's battery and wiggled the cable, but it didn't budge. Therefore, the battery cable was not loose, and Tori had exhausted all her options. She went back around to the driver's seat, closing the door as she made a phone call to the first person she could think of.

"What do you _want? _I was _sleeping!_"

"Nice to hear your voice too..." Tori mumbled in response, rolling her eyes at Jade's 11 AM attitude. "My car won't start. Can you come get me?"

"Why should I?"

"Because you love me?" There was silence on the other end, so she casually added, "And there are a couple really creepy guys coming my way and if they murder me the police will know about this phone call and assume you did it."

"You've been watching too much CSI..." Jade made sure not to hold back her annoyance, and let out a loud sigh, before giving in and asking, "Where are you?"

"In the parking lot outside Noah's apartment building... across from the Freezy Queen on 7th."

"_Fine_." Jade sounded even more aggravated each time she spoke, and Tori was starting to ask herself why she hadn't called Andre instead.

"I'm sorry to bother you..."

"You will be." Without another word, Jade hung up, and Tori slowly lowered her phone, wondering how serious of a threat that was. She glanced out the window and the two leering men she'd seen just minutes before were now facing the opposite direction, so she opened the car door and climbed out, going back to stare hopelessly at her engine. Although it was useless, she attempted to tighten every cap she saw, poking at things she didn't know the name or use of. It occurred to Tori just then that it'd been quite some time since she'd had her oil changed, and she made a mental note to have that done.

Minutes ticked by and Jade didn't show up, although she only lived a few blocks away. The thought that Jade might have spent the night at Beck's house crept into Tori's mind. Last she knew, Beck lived all the way on the other side of town. If Jade was coming from there - which Tori hoped she wasn't, it could be close to an hour before she arrived. Disappointed and impatient, Tori turned to get back in the car, only to be stopped by one of the men from across the street, who had somehow made his way silently to Tori's side of the street. She could only guess how long he'd been standing behind her.

"Need some help?" He didn't sound like he was offering the kind of help she needed, so she shook her head.

"No, I'm just... waiting for someone."

"Nice car." He sneered, pausing for a moment as his eyes moved down the length of the car, and then violated Tori in the same way. "How much?"

"For the car? It's not for sale." He laughed, and when he opened his mouth again Tori felt goosebumps rising on her skin.

"No, for you." She prayed he was joking. Noah lived in a decent neighborhood. If a guy was looking to buy a woman, this was obviously a bad place. The man was smiling in a way that insinuated he was joking, and it seemed reasonable that he would be, but Tori couldn't be too sure.

"You're not my type." He laughed like he didn't believe her, and rested an arm on the roof of the car, leaning a little closer, just as Tori spotted Jade walking up behind him, cup of coffee in hand.

"Oh really? What's your _type_?"

"She is." Before he could even turn to see who she was talking to, Jade pushed past him, twirling her car keys around her index finger as she snapped,

"Back off my girlfriend. She doesn't want you." That was all it took, and he nodded casually before taking off at a brisk walk with his tail between his legs. Tori thought about making a joke about Jade's fresh-out-of-bed appearance, but wisely chose not to.

"You really need to stop attracting creeps."

"I don't do it on purpose." Instead of leading the way back to her own car, which was parked alongside the curb a few yards away, Jade circled around to the front of Tori's, peeking under the hood.

"Oh, are _you _going to fix it?" Tori laughed, doubting the actress' automotive expertise, but Jade only smiled and leaned in over the engine.

"You forget I dated a car freak off and on for like, five years." In silence, Tori stood beside the car, lightly kicking the tire as Jade poked around under the hood. Neither of them even looked the other's way, and though Tori wanted to talk, Jade didn't seem to be in the best mood for that.

"Well, you're screwed." Jade finally stood up straight as her fingers grasped the top of the hood. She slammed it shut and put on a serious face before she made eye contact with Tori, who was staring wide-eyed back at her as her mouth slowly dropped open.

"What? What's wrong with it?" A smile broke out on Jade's face once she'd had her fun and she rolled her eyes at the gullible woman before her.

"Hell if I know. I don't know anything about cars." Now in a much better mood, the cheerful actress patted Tori on the shoulder and then tried to steer her in a better direction. "Why didn't you just ask your little boyfriend to fix it for you, if he's so close?"

"Because I just dumped him and that would be humiliating." It was obvious that Jade was trying not to smile. Her face scrunched up and she averted her gaze, eyeing the ground across the street instead.

"Oh. Already? Good for you." The handle on the passenger side door of Jade's car snapped back, pinching Tori's finger when she tried to pull it and discovered it was locked. With a quiet beep, Jade unlocked it and Tori tried again, this time getting into the passenger seat without injury.

"What, you didn't think I could do it?"

"No, I knew you could." When their eyes met for a little too long, Jade pulled herself away first, taking a sip from the cup in her hand before starting the engine so the air conditioning could kick on. Tori called her mechanic, which was always a fun time for her. Jade sat smiling in the driver's seat, watching the frustrated girl argue with him for nearly ten minutes before he agreed to come get her car. It took the guy twice as long as it should have to get there, and even then, he took his time loading up the car to take it back to his shop. Jade stayed in bystander mode, in love with Tori's misery as the mechanic made everything a lot harder than it needed to be.

Finally, Tori climbed back into Jade's car with a sigh, earning her a sympathetic look from the unexpectedly patient actress.

"Where to?"

"Let's just go back your place. He said it's gonna take him a couple hours."

"You want to go back to _my place? _Tori, are you trying to seduce me?" Jade's smile grew even bigger as Tori laughed and went along with it, answering with another playful question.

"Maybe. Will it work?" She got an eye roll in response, followed by a moment of silence that lasted until her car was just a speck in the rearview mirror.

"That depends." Jade was suddenly serious. It was frightening, almost.

"On?"

"What you're expecting me to do this time." The way she spoke convinced Tori that it was a done deal, but she was cautious explaining her plan anyway.

"Well...James booked me a spot on the Late Show in a couple weeks and everyone's been begging me to get you to come, so _please _tell me you'll do that."

"What else?"

"...I don't know, just, umm...don't run and hide if you're out in public with me and someone tries to take our picture?" Jade pulled her car into a parking space outside her ground floor apartment and put the car in park, but she didn't turn off the engine. With a pause, she turned to question Tori with a genuinely curious look on her face, which didn't match her teasing tone of voice.

"Do people actually care enough to take your picture?"

"_Yes_. Some guy at the gas station the other day recognized me, actually, so I've officially been asked to take a picture with someone." She wore a big smile, like it was the proudest moment in her life, as she climbed out of the passenger seat and began to follow Jade through the front door.

"Wow, look at you, _superstar." _

Inside the apartment, Jade still hadn't quite unpacked from her trip to Chicago. Her kitchen counter was nearly covered by all her makeup, and random piles of folded clothes sat on the floor beside the door. It was exceptionally dark inside, as Jade preferred to live that way, and it took Tori's eyes a while to adjust to the change. Jade's apartment smelled just like her, only the scent was twice as strong, and Tori couldn't help but inhale it the second she stepped inside. It was difficult to describe, but it was a good smell, and she'd almost forgotten how much she was missing it while Jade was gone.

"Umm, Jade...the other day, you were trying to tell me something and I guess I kind of interrupted and you seemed kind of upset-"

"It was nothing." She'd snapped back to her usual guarded, crabby self before Tori could even finish talking. "I'm sorry I...I switched to decaf and I've just been a little more emotional than usual and I-"

"Decaf? _You _switched to decaf?" Jade looked straight into Tori's eyes with a completely helpless, pitiful expression on her face that clashed terribly with the voice she'd just used.

"Yes, and I think I'm dying."

"You're not dying," Tori assured her with a smile, "you're just having withdrawals." Jade grumbled something about drug addiction and made her way to the couch in her living room. She sprawled across the length of it and stretched to reach the remote on the coffee table, ignoring her guest, who simply squeezed into the small amount of space at the end Jade's feet were at.

They didn't talk - they hardly even watched the TV. Tori and Jade sat in Jade's dimly lit living room in near silence for a while as the Game Show Network created background noise. An hour later, Jade was turned the other way, fast asleep with her head in Tori's lap as the more lively musician absentmindedly combed Jade's hair back with her nails, wrapping the dark curls around her fingers, just playing with it. It was strange for her, to be this close to Jade while she was calm, sleeping. Were she awake, Jade would never let Tori this close to her hair, and Tori smiled at that thought as she wove the whole of it into a loose french braid.

Another hour later, they were both asleep on the couch, not conscious of the position they were in. Jade had both her arms wrapped around Tori's thigh, her head resting uncomfortably on the hip bone. Tori's left hand sat on Jade's shoulder while her right hung off the side of the couch, her fingers dragging on the floor. It was an odd sight, and they realized that immediately when the icemaker in Jade's refrigerator kicked on rather loudly, waking them both. Jade roughly pulled away the second she opened her eyes, but Tori, who was a little more groggy, stayed put.

"Do you think your car's ready yet?" The tired actress mumbled, red in the face from the embarrassment of being caught in such an intimate sleeping position.

"Probably not. I bet he hasn't even popped the hood yet." Jade nodded, not sure what to say. She checked her phone, glanced at the TV, and took her time making eye contact.

"...Chinese then?"

…

Just like that, they'd gone back to the close friendship they'd developed and then destroyed months earlier. Jade went back to work at the movie theater and it took up a lot of her time, but she made sure to be there when Tori's album was released, even going to the store with her so somebody could be there to inform the singer of how stupid it was to buy so many copies of her own CD. She'd gone to the small party the label had thrown to celebrate the release too, though it wasn't anything remarkable. Tori's band had been otherwise occupied at the time, and without them there to harass people, it wasn't much of a party. With an event like that, however, came photographs, and a handful more of them hit the internet, linking the two of them together once again.

Tori's performance on the Late Show snuck up on her fast, and before she knew it, it was Thursday and she was backstage in the bathroom, feeling like she was going to throw up. Jade was there, though she was only making it worse, purposely reminding Tori of how many viewers the show had on average, bringing up all the performers who had royally screwed up in the past, teasing her about how she'd surely be next.

"Jade, you're really not helping."

"You're right," Jade sounded sincere, but she still had a smile on her face and she soon proved that she wasn't finished. "You should calm down. I don't need to be known for dating the chick that threw up on live TV." Tori only scowled, not wanting to give Jade any words to twist into another jab at her.

"Okay, fine, I'm done. I know you'll do just fine. There are only like, a hundred people sitting out there, so just worry about them. You've performed for much bigger audiences before."

"This is a little different, but thanks, I guess." Jade placed her hand on Tori's back, urging her out of the bathroom and into the main hall backstage. The show had started about forty-five minutes ago and they could just barely comprehend what was going on out there at the moment. Some rude quasi-celebrity was being interviewed, they knew, because he'd been backstage with them earlier and had been a huge jerk to both of them. As for when that would be ending, they didn't have a clue, but it had to be coming up.

As soon as they were back in the green room, in sight of the rest of the backstage crew, a dozen different people descended on the two women like bees swarming the hive. Jade was rudely pushed out of the way by a woman with a makeup brush in her hand, and she awkwardly stood off to the side, scowling as Tori was prepped for her upcoming performance.

"Do you want me to, uh, go sit in the audience, or should I just stay back here, or..." Tori could barely see Jade's face through the crowd of people working around her, but she noticed how nervous and uncomfortable she suddenly looked. She wasn't completely unfamiliar with this world - she'd come into contact with it many times before - but Jade looked as if she were drowning, and Tori was her life vest, pulled away from her in the middle of shark infested waters. She looked panicked, and not like herself.

"It doesn't matter, just..." Tori's voice faded away as she was pushed toward the stage, and Jade couldn't hear the rest of her answer. The backstage crew had been diminished, and there were only a handful of people around her as Jade snuck closer to the stage, to a spot where she could see Tori and the rest of the band being put in their places. The boys all seemed to be getting along, and even Michael seemed to be just as hyped about the performance as the twice-as-obnoxious Hunter and Marcus were, though Tori still looked like she was going to vomit. Jade almost felt the same way, just watching. Thanks to the corrupt entertainment industry, Tori's fame was now her fame, and if she messed up, it was hard to say what would happen. They always said no publicity was bad publicity but if the camera turned on Tori and she choked, which she looked like she might, her credibility was certainly at stake.

Tori barely had a chance to catch her breath before people started shouting about coming back from commercial. Her face went pale, even under all the makeup that had been plastered on her skin, and she looked scared out of her mind as her name was announced and the music started. For a few seconds, she was a little stiff, obviously uncomfortable, but it didn't reflect in her voice and after only a short moment, Tori relaxed and started living up to the many performances she'd given prior to that moment. It only took one verse before Jade felt bad for doubting her, and she found herself standing against a wall, tapping her toes along to the music as she peered out onto the stage just far enough to see Tori. A smile appeared on her face and she quickly caught it, trying to remind herself that she was only _pretending _to be happy, but that was a lie - a big _big _lie, and she knew that. Her faked relationship with Tori was only a speck in the pyramid of lies she'd been telling lately, mainly to herself, if she was going to be honest.

Jade struggled with herself for the rest of the song, and every feeling she'd had after the last time she saw Tori perform started flooding her head. She thought about all the times she'd started to do something about them, only to fail, and she decided at the last second, just as the song ended, that she was done with trying, she was just going to get it over with before she exploded into a million pieces. A few seconds later, when Tori ran off the stage, completely ecstatic and squealing about how she'd just performed on live television, Jade placed her hands on either side of the accomplished singer's face and pulled her into a deep kiss. This time, while they had a small audience, both girls knew that it wasn't meant for them.

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><p><em><strong>We're slowly getting there...<strong>_

_**Tell me what you think. :) **_


	19. Chapter 19

_**Sorry for the wait this time. You can blame the hurricane force winds that took my power for the two days I was most motivated to write this.**_

_**I hope you like this one. :)**_

Tori pulled a heavy, metal door closed behind her and took her time searching for the light switch. She was twice as nervous as before, and it took her a moment, even after she flipped the lights on, to turn and face Jade in what appeared to be the broom closet. It was a surprise to see that she was staring back at her in very much the same frightened manner.

"I..." Neither of them seemed to know what to say, but they had to talk about it, so Tori tried to take the first step. "Do you..."

"I'm sorry." The fact that the first words out of Jade's mouth were an apology was remarkable in itself, but the genuine look on her face was even more surprising. She looked scared, like she was petrified at the thought of rejection. "I guess I should have talked to you about this a long time ago, but I didn't really know _how, _I guess. I, umm..." She glued her eyes to the floor, strangely intimidated by the eye contact Tori was trying to maintain. "In Santa Barbara...I didn't kiss you because I was drunk, I-I wanted to...and I guess I just...that freaked me out, so I ran, but I thought about it for a while after that and I figured it out, and...I just...I'm not...I don't know how to deal with my feelings very well, Tori. I haven't... Really, Beck is the only other person I've ever... Well, I'm just not like you. People don't exactly _like me_, for obvious reasons, so I just...don't know how to... I already knew that Beck liked me before I fell for him, and now, I just... God, it's the other way around here, I guess. I don't _know_ this time and it's terrifying and I'm kind of hyperventilating right now. I don't like taking chances when it comes to stuff like this, but I can't just go on acting like I'm faking it, and I...don't want to freak you out, but I don't want to lie either. I _hate _feeling like this, but I..." She finally took an exasperated breath and looked up, at Tori's narrowed but expressionless eyes. "I wouldn't be telling you if I didn't think that you felt the same way."

Tori didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything, and that prompted Jade to start getting angry. She looked much less helpless now, clawing her hair back as her face turned red in the warm closet.

"I _know _that you feel the same way, you- you _have_ to. The way that you look at me, and the...the... You can't just _not _feel what I feel. You have to..." Her chest was heaving, she was breathing too heavily for the stuffy room. "_Tori,_ say something before I pass out,_ please."_

"I..." Tori flung her hands in the air in confusion, and admitted to what Jade was accusing her of rather quickly and easily. "Yeah, I do feel that way, that's not exactly...that's not _new_, but... What are you expecting me to do about it? Date you for real? _I can't do that. _You're..._you. _You're mean, and you're _deeply_ disturbed, and you're unreasonably jealous, and you're my friend's ex-girlfriend, I can't-"

"Your friend? Really? When's the last time you _actually_ spoke to him?" Jade only paused for a second, her angry eyes boring holes in Tori's forehead. "Besides, that rule doesn't even apply to guys, and you're a little too late to be worrying about it! Guys don't care about the ex rule. _He _obviously doesn't."

"That's not the point, I just...I would feel...Jade, I_ know_ that being with you only means pain for me. For us both, really. I don't _blame_ you for that. That's just who you are... I think you're talented, and funny, and smart, and beautiful, but I can't be with you. I'm sorry, Jade... I want to love you but I can't do that to myself."

Jade's lips slowly came together, and her nostrils flared. She was just barely holding back tears, and Tori couldn't quite tell if she looked so angry because she'd been rejected, or because she wasn't in control of even herself.

"Okay." She whispered, pushing Tori aside so she could exit the closet, though she obviously had no idea what to do after that. Out in the hall, she froze, as the real world moved around her once again. Tori came out right behind her and sympathetically placed her hand on Jade's left shoulder.

"Let's go." She said softly, looking almost as upset as Jade was. Only a few minutes later, they were on their way outside, Jade in silence, Tori with her phone to her ear and her manager on the other end. For an occasion like this, Tori had earned her own driver, so she climbed into the back seat of the black sedan first, with Jade hesitating before joining her. For the first ten minutes of the ride, Jade leaned against the window, subconsciously listening in on Tori's phone conversation as they left the center of the city. James hadn't been able to make it to the show, but he'd called once it was over, and Jade could hear his loud voice listing off numbers, names, and other things that didn't really matter to her anymore. In the small amount of time since the broadcast ended, the song that Tori had performed had apparently sold an excitingly large number of copies online, and the excited musician was obviously happy about it, though her voice sounded a little empty. Jade told herself she was just hearing something she wanted to hear, though. She _wanted _Tori to be as upset about the turnout of their relationship as she was, so she was a little biased. She couldn't really read Tori's mood well enough to know for sure.

It was nearly 2 AM when the two women were dropped off. Tori felt a little embarrassed, getting out of a chauffeured car in front of such a middle class apartment building, but she was still coming down from her life-changing experience and subsequent fight with Jade to be too concerned. The fragile actress climbed out of the car behind her and froze on the sidewalk. Tori turned to face her, considering, for a moment, asking her to come upstairs. She could see on Jade's face how bad of an idea that would be, so she stood and stared for a moment longer.

"I can't do this anymore." Jade spoke quietly and calmly. "I mean it this time."

"I understand." The streetlight closest to them flickered, and Tori's eyes met with the ground again. "Thanks anyway, for everything you've done for me. I'm...sorry, just...I've really liked spending time with you, and I want to be with you more than anything, but...sometimes you have to listen to your head instead of your heart."

"You don't have to feed me that crap." Jade muttered bitterly in the direction of the dirt. "I get it. I wouldn't want to be with me either."

"Jade-"

"I'll see you later." At that point, they went their separate ways. Tori went up to her apartment alone and Jade started walking, praying that one of the late night buses was still running in the area. She hated the bus, but it was better to take it than to ask Tori for a ride, because _that _just might kill her.

It took a while to get home, but she made it, and Jade stumbled tiredly through her front entryway at just after 3 AM. She was exhausted - she'd been exhausted for what seemed like forever- but she knew she wouldn't sleep if she went to bed, so she put on a movie, raided the refrigerator, and sat down on the couch, where she spent the rest of the night eating the heads off animal crackers and shredding the box they came in with her favorite pair of scissors.

She fell asleep after a while, but the light woke her shortly after sunrise because she'd forgotten to pull the blinds when she'd come home only a few hours before. Part of her was trying to ignore it and go back to sleep, but the rest was pressuring her into getting up to close them, and that was the side she listened to. By the time she returned to the couch, still too tired to bother moving to her bedroom, Jade was a little too conscious to fall back asleep easily, so she laid there for a while, eyes closed, brain hyperactive.

The next time Jade took a peek at the time displayed on her microwave across the room, it was 6:15 AM and she'd deemed it useless to try any longer to fall back asleep. Throwing her short-lived resolution out the window, Jade slipped some shoes on and went out to get a cup of coffee at the shop down the street, which she knew from many years of buying her coffee there, opened at 6.

It was surprisingly busy, for such an early hour. She'd never been in prior to 7:30 before, and even then, there were rarely more than ten people inside. The coffee shop was filled with nine that morning - Jade counted. Waiting in line was near the top of her list of hatred, as was sleep deprivation, so she was starting to get a little cranky, waiting for someone to take her order.

It was made even worse when she'd almost reached the front of the line, only for the dark-haired, tan-skinned, humiliated man in front of her to turn around and drop his jaw to the floor. Jade stared back at Noah, feeling her skin grow three shades redder when she recognized him.

"Uhh...hi." He stood completely still, cup of coffee in hand. Jade wasn't sure what to say to him. A tiny little sliver of herself felt bad for the guy, and something in her this early in the morning thought apologizing for stealing his girlfriend - who now didn't even want her - might be a good idea, but she couldn't open her mouth. She wondered if it would be more or less awkward if Tori were in her place. "How is...life?"

"Umm...well, life's...life. You know..." Her forehead itched, so she reached up to scratch it, feeling incredibly awkward and unlike herself. "Look, I'm really sorry about my, uh...behavior. I was just messing with you. She didn't...well she'd never..."

"You don't seem like the type to apologize much." He was arguably more red than she was now. "So thanks. I, uh... forgive you, I guess. ...Bye." With that, he ended their awkward confrontation and hurried out the door, leaving Jade to turn to the barista, a middle-aged brunette woman named Veronica, who was barely even tall enough see over the counter. Veronica had worked at the coffee shop ever since Jade could remember, and after all these years, they knew each other pretty well.

"Ex-boyfriend?" She knew Jade's order by heart, so the friendly barista started to reach for the cups without even asking.

"I'm gonna go with the big one this time." Jade corrected her before answering. "And, uh...no. More like ex-girlfriend's ex-boyfriend."

"Ah, I see. Doesn't look like he cares much for you."

"He thinks she cheated on him with me. Little does he know, she doesn't want either of us." Veronica gave her a sympathetic smile and handed Jade the large cup of coffee.

"That's too bad. If I had any alcohol I'd spike that for you, but I don't, so it's on the house." Jade thanked her with a silent smile she could deny if need be, and went to sit at a small table by herself, knowing she'd have to get another one as soon as she finished the first.

For over an hour, Jade played around on her phone, trying not to look like a loser as she went through two 30 ounce cups of coffee and made four trips to the bathroom before she buying one more and taking it with her when she started back in the direction of her house. She wasn't really interested in going there, but Jade didn't know what else to do on her day off, so she took her sweet time walking there. She had only made it about two blocks before a hand landed on her shoulder and she was spun around into the face of her _own _ex-boyfriend.

"Why so sad?" He asked, but he had a slight smirk on his face, and she kind of wanted to punch him.

"What-What are you doing here?" Beck only shrugged and lifted his arms, revealing two plastic bags hanging from his wrists.

"The grocery store down the block is the only place that carries the brand of almonds we use at the restaurant. I'm on my way back to the bus stop now."

"You took the bus?" He rolled his eyes and answered straight-faced,

"Just trying to save the world, one tank of gas at a time." He paused, taking in the sight of her coffee cup and the vibrating hand holding it. "You seem kind of jittery."

"I'm fine." She spit out the two words a little too quickly.

"...Have you been drinking?" His face went slack, and he leaned a little closer.

"No. 'said I'm fine."

"Then have you been _smoking?" _Beck actually looked concerned, but it was obvious he was joking.

"I tried switching to decaf for a while. Obviously didn't work. I'm okay though."

"...Is everything okay with Tori?" Beck knew the buzzword, and she got even worse once he said it, blinking at least eight times before she said anything in response.

"No. No. Not really. I, uhh... no. I'm sorry, I need to go."

"Jade."

"Beck." She mocked him when he didn't continue. Shifting the bag in his left hand over to his right, Beck tried to put on his caring face, but it looked out of place. He wasn't supposed to want to talk about her latest relationship mishaps, he was her _ex. _

"Did she dump you?"

"I guess you could say that." She had, basically. Publicly, she'd been dumped. Or had she done the dumping? Either way, their public relationship was over and their private one didn't even have a chance.

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"Don't be. The whole thing was just some...quarter life crisis. 'Shouldn't have happened. I'll get over it." She downed another portion of her coffee, which seemed to worry Beck more than anything else. He grabbed the cup from her and said softly,

"Go home before you crash and fall asleep on a sidewalk somewhere. You'll be okay."

"Oh, yeah, because you're an expert on dumping me, right?" He completely ignored her and rested his free hand on the bitter girl's shoulder.

"Do you want to do something tonight? Get your mind off it?"

"No, I'm gonna go home and set my hair on fire." Jade started to walk away before Beck even had a chance to react, and she'd reached the corner before he shouted after her,

"I hope you have a fire extinguisher!"

Beck was right. Her prolonged abuse of the wonder drug had completely screwed her up, and the caffeine started to wear off quickly, even after all the coffee she'd drank. She barely made it through her front door before she hit the proverbial wall, and sunk to the floor, where she lay with the ceiling fan spinning above her for almost an hour. The longer she remained stationary, the further she crashed, until she got to the point where even getting up and taking a cold shower didn't wake her up. Jade collapsed, wrapped in a towel, on the couch and glued her eyes to the TV for a while, her brain slowly sorting through the last few months as she subconsciously viewed a sci-fi movie.

It was hard to figure out when it happened. Almost impossible, really. She'd walked the line between hating Tori and loving her for so long, and at some point she'd stepped wrong and fallen to one side, but she hadn't even realized it until her foot caught in the safety net. Now she could lie on her couch, gazing up at that line she had no hope of climbing back up to. She'd completely fumbled the act. It had been time to quit the show, but even now, away from it all, deep down she was nothing but a circus freak.

The lights went down around eight, but by that time Jade had been asleep on the couch for hours, still wrapped in a towel, with the emptied bag from inside the box of animal crackers she'd started the night before crushed in the palm of her hand. She was even more tired and pathetic than she'd thought, and the sounds of the city moving around her didn't disturb Jade's sleep or dreamland self-loathing at all. It wasn't until much later that a noise awoke her from one of many horrific nightmares.

Jade had been out cold for so long that her brain wasn't quite functioning when she got up to answer the door. She checked the time twice, but it never registered with her, and the hand clamped to the top of her bath towel was only doing its job subconsciously.

On the other side of the door was a blurry figure that quickly morphed into someone that looked a lot like Tori. At that point, Jade's brain kicked in just enough to inform her that she was still dreaming. This was definitely one of those bizarre stress dreams. She was basically naked in front of her opened front door and there was a person on the other side - _Tori _on the other side. All that was left was for her teeth to start falling out.

"Jade..." Dream Tori's voice sounded so much like Real Tori, and the awkward smile cracked across her jaw, combined with the desperate, melancholic look in her eyes seemed so familiar and accurate as well. "I...I know it's late, but I've been thinking all day and I guess...I realized that I'm a lot more like you than I thought. I kind of like it when you torture me, and...life without you there to tease me, and berate me, and entertain me...andloveme _back_...just isn't a life that I want to live." When the sound of her voice faded out, Tori finally glanced down, realizing Jade's current wardrobe predicament. That was when Jade knew she _must_ be dreaming, because Tori would never be able to keep eye contact with her for that long. She certainly would have noticed the towel sooner in a real world situation.

"Oh my god. You're in a towel. I just..._professed my supposed love for you _and you're practically naked. That only makes your silence ten times more awkward." The fabric of the suddenly inadequately sized towel started to feel itchy, and the aching feeling resonating from behind Jade's eyeballs got her to truly start questioning which realm she was currently in.

"...Honestly, I'm not convinced this isn't just a dream. I just woke up from a really bad nap, I guess, and I'm still kind of..."

"I promise you're not dreaming. I, um...I hope that the fact you don't think you're having a nightmare means that you actually wanted me to come here and...say what I just said." Jade didn't confirm or deny that assumption, and her half-functioning brain latched onto only a handful of the words Tori had said.

"So, you...feel what I feel?"

"If by that you mean confusion and terror and umm, _love_, I guess, then...yes...? I thought you already knew that." Jade was still half asleep and couldn't quite comprehend what Tori was saying. She could hardly keep her eyes open, even. Tori probably thought she was drunk out of her mind. "No, Jade, I'm here because I decided that _not _being with you might be the rational thing to do, but it's not what I really want. I want you. To be my girlfriend. My, umm...real one. Please." Now, Jade was pretty sure that this was real life, and if it turned out not to be, she might just plug in her toaster and take a bath with it.

"That would make me so much happier if I wasn't half-naked and completely out of it right now."

"Is that a good thing?" Tori seemed as frightened and confused as Jade had been in the broom closet the night before, which was odd enough. It didn't look like she was even breathing, and Tori's nervous behavior seemed so strange and out of character for her, even with Jade in such a muddled state of consciousness. Passing on an opportunity to make fun of Tori for her anxiety, which Jade surely would have taken if she'd been more awake, she stood in the doorway, passing her nervous wreck status on to the hopeful musician standing before her as she smiled and cautiously assured Tori,

"Of course it is."


	20. Chapter 20

_**I didn't intend to have such a chaotic personal life when I started this fic, so I apologize once again for disappointing so many of you with my erratic updating.**__** I would love to post 4000 word chapters for you every other day, but I'm human and that's not possible for me. I'm sorry.**_

_**Thanks to those of you who are nice and understanding. It's you guys that I write this story for. Somehow I've passed 400 reviews on this, and I'm really thankful that you've all stuck with me. **_

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><p>Jade's recent sleeping patterns were going to be very difficult to correct, she realized, when she woke curled up on top of the covers at the foot of her bed no later than 5:30 AM. At first she thought it had to be at least nine. It was always dark in her room, so she didn't have the light to tell her the time, but it just <em>felt <em>later than it really was. The first thing she looked at was the ceiling, the second was the clock. Though she'd fallen asleep at nearly 6 PM the night before, the time still surprised her.

It took a moment for Jade to fully come out of her sleep, and then she remembered the events of the night before. She'd been so tired and confused at the time that she couldn't quite remember it clearly enough to know for sure that it had even happened. What if it hadn't? What if she'd been dreaming? It couldn't be a dream. She'd considered that option at the time, and if it were really a dream, she wouldn't have been the slightest bit aware of that possibility, would she?

Still slightly dazed, Jade grabbed her phone off the pile of shed clothing on the top of her dresser and breathed a sigh of relief when a text message from Tori lit up the screen. She checked the time stamp on it first - 12:46 AM. Tori must have sent it shortly after leaving.

"_It wasn't a dream, don't worry. I hope you're not busy tonight. I'd like to take you out for dinner. Let me know when you wake up. :)" _First, Jade rolled her eyes at the smiley face at the end of the message - Typical Tori - but then she had to smile at how the girl had known exactly what she'd be thinking when she woke up. Jade responded to Tori's text right away, though she knew she wouldn't be getting a response for hours, and moved to the kitchen to start her day off correctly with some breakfast.

While Jade was up early, Tori slept in. Inside her relatively chilly apartment across town, Tori woke up at noon, with her blankets on the floor and goosebumps on her skin. She got out of bed more hastily than she usually would, and grabbed a cardigan she'd discarded on the top of her dresser a few days earlier, pulling it on before she wandered out to the living room to adjust the thermostat. It was a few more minutes before she moved back to her bedroom to put on some real clothes, and then she spotted her phone sitting on the table beside her bed. She crawled across the mattress to get it, rather than waste her energy walking around, and was happy to see that she had a response - sent at 5:29 AM. Even for such an ungodly hour, Jade's response had a happy feeling to it.

"_I suppose I could fit one dinner into my schedule... If you let me pick the restaurant." _Tori was apprehensive at first. She wasn't sure she was ready for Jade to take the reins. She wasn't even sure she'd made the right decision, quite yet. If she agreed to let Jade pick the restaurant they could end up eating illegally imported dog meat, and even if the food was completely normal, Tori could easily picture Jade taking her to some sketchy restaurant in a neighborhood where they're more than likely get mugged.

Her phone buzzed again just as she took a deep breath, reminding herself that Jade wasn't quite as strange as she'd been in high school. Letting her pick the restaurant was completely harmless, and if it wasn't, then that was Tori's own damn fault for falling for her.

"_? I promise I'll pick a normal one. ...You don't have any food allergies, do you?"_

"_No, but please don't make me try anything too weird." _Tori had barely even set her phone down before it buzzed again.

"_Define 'weird.'"_

Several hours later, Tori could hardly stop her teeth from chattering, she was so nervous. She'd been sitting in her car outside Jade's apartment for at least ten minutes, but she couldn't bring herself to get out. She was early anyway, so she wasn't in any kind of hurry, but the stress was already killing her. It wasn't reasonable for her to be so anxious. It was just a date. A date with _Jade, _sure, but Jade liked her now. She liked her a lot.

Tori had thought about this moment a few times in her life, absentmindedly planning out entire dates in her head before she'd realize what she was doing and go back to denying that her feelings for Jade were anything more than just a little crush. Now it was okay to admit it - everyone _thought _they loved each other, and they'd officially confessed out loud - but still, Tori worried that Jade was playing her, that it was a joke. It _obviously _wasn't, she reminded herself. No way could Jade fake that level of distress that night at the Late Show if she didn't mean it. It made _sense _for Jade to like her now, didn't it? She'd pretended to for a couple of months, it was bound to happen. Deep down, Jade was the type of girl who liked belonging to somebody. She had liked pretending to belong to Tori. She was completely past manipulating and humiliating her. Now, Jade wanted Tori, simple as that. She had to.

Glancing at the clock again, Tori couldn't allow herself to keep sitting in the car, drowning in anxiety. She climbed out of the driver's seat and crossed the parking lot, waiting outside Jade's door for another minute without even knocking. If she opened the door, it could end in disappointment. If she stayed outside, she'd tear herself to pieces, but with a door between them, Jade couldn't play Tori. She couldn't break her heart if she couldn't see her.

"_Why am I so nervous?" _Tori whispered to herself, raising her fist to the door. She was being ridiculous. Her unfortunate past had destroyed her ability to accept that Jade was a changed woman. She wasn't going to do any of the things Tori was worrying about. It was going to be fine.

Finally, Tori knocked, and when she didn't get a response, she tried the doorknob. Inside Jade's apartment, the lights were out, but the blinds were pulled up just an inch or two, letting in enough light to show that the bedroom door was closed.

"Jade?" She got a response much more quickly than she'd expected.

"Just a second," Jade's head popped out from behind the door, but the rest of her stayed hidden.  
>"I haven't decided what I'm wearing yet."<p>

"Do you want me to help you choose?" Tori only took one step toward the door before Jade's hand shot out to stop her.

"No. You stay out there. I'm not dressed yet." Her face turned a slight pinkish color, as if she were embarrassed. It seemed so unusual that Tori's fears from before were completely purged from her mind, as she stepped closer to Jade's bedroom.

"So? You've changed in front of me a million times."

"But it's different now-"

"What?" Tori interrupted her ridiculous complaint, laughing at the usually brash one's temporary shyness.

"_Just give me a second." _Jade disappeared completely inside her bedroom, only to stick her head out again two seconds later. "Blue or green?"

"Green." When Jade came out a minute later in a short black dress, Tori wondered just how many of those she owned, that it would take her so long to choose such an outfit, but she didn't question it out loud, and only followed her date out of the apartment in nervous silence.

"You'll be happy to know that I chose a boring restaurant so the likelihood of you getting food poisoning is pretty low."

"...Do you usually go to restaurants that give you food poisoning?" Jade didn't answer, she simply smiled and grabbed a hold of Tori's wrist as they approached her car together.

Things were awkward for a while, as Jade drove down the highway with the radio off and her mouth shut. Tori thought about reaching out to hold her hand, but she wasn't sure if that would be considered too bold or not. She honestly had no idea what point they were at in their relationship. Did their fake one count toward the real thing, or was this the official starting point?

After a few more minutes, Tori realized that Jade was taking her to her favorite little restaurant - the one they'd met at the day Tori had asked Jade to be her fake girlfriend. It was oddly appropriate, for a first date, but she suddenly felt overdressed. Jade was dressed much the same way she was, though, which prompted her to wonder what they'd be doing after dinner.

The couple took a seat at the exact table they'd sat at on the first day, as it somehow happened to be empty, despite the large crowd filling the rest of the place. For several minutes, while they waited for their waitress, Tori and Jade nursed matching margaritas and made uncomfortable small talk, like they were strangers on a blind date and _hadn't _known each other for almost six years. Eventually the waitress came back to take their orders, though it was too late to save her in Jade's eyes. She was already in a bad mood, and Tori went straight back to feeling awkward, only for her phone to save her by beeping in her purse.

Since Jade wasn't contributing much to the conversation, Tori figured it wouldn't be too rude of her to check her phone quickly. When she pulled up the new text message, however, her face fell, and Jade caught it immediately.

"Who is it?" She asked, sounding genuinely curious in a non-offended kind of way.

"Oh, nobody." Tori realized her mistake right away, when Jade's face turned to one of disbelief. "It's just...since I was on the Late Show I've been getting some mean text messages. When I have the chance I'm gonna get the number blocked. It's no big deal." Before Tori could refuse, Jade ripped her phone from her hand and read the message. Her eyes grew wide as she reached the end, and she started typing something.

"That's so rude. What an asshole."

"Yeah, well, I guess the label's marketing ploy has alienated a certain type of person... Luckily it's the kind of people I'd rather not- What are you doing?" The sly grin on Jade's face had tipped Tori off, and she could tell she was doing something she probably shouldn't be.

"Signing your little admirer up for a wake-up call service... For the next six months they'll receive phone calls from random numbers every day at five AM that they won't be able to stop without my password. I promise you'll feel a lot better about their hatred, knowing that they won't be getting any sleep." Jade's lips curved into a more pleasant smile, as she put her malignant abilities to good use.

"What? How do you do that?" Laughing, Jade passed the phone back to its rightful owner without an outright explanation.

"...There are websites for everything."

"It's not illegal, is it? My first dates have never involved illegal activities before, and I'd rather not start now."

"It's not any more illegal than harassing someone with text messages full of homophobic death threats."

"They're not _death _threats...but thanks, I guess." Tori glanced down into her drink with a smile that Jade pretended not to notice. Their food finally arrived a few seconds later, and the two women began eating in silence. A few bites in, Tori's eyes suddenly widened, and her mouth straightened out as she realized something.

"You did that to me! Senior year! I forget which play I was auditioning for, but for the whole week before my audition, I kept getting random phone calls at three in the morning. I failed a bunch of tests because of sleep deprivation!"

"I _really_ wanted that part."

"Well, you got it." With a shy smile, Tori looked up into Jade's eyes again. "And you were really good, actually."

"I'm glad I could surprise you." Tori recognized the tone of voice Jade was using. She sounded rather apathetic and she wore a sarcastic smile, but hidden deep in her voice were some hurt feelings. It was hard to believe a girl like her could have such a sensitive ego.

"I didn't mean it like that. I knew you'd be good, just at the time I kind of felt like... Never mind. Forget I brought it up. Tell me about your movie. When's it coming out?" Jade rolled her eyes at Tori's embarrassment over upsetting her, but moved on to the next question without protest.

"Last I heard they were planning on a January release date."

"Awesome. I can't wait." Jade raised an eyebrow at Tori's smile, doubting her even though she had no reason to.

"You're actually going to see it?" The pop singer's eyes widened in surprise, and she reached across the table to grab Jade's free hand reassuringly.

"Of course I am. If you're in it, I'm watching it."

"Are you sure? You won't be afraid of me after you see it?" Jade's face softened as she ended her question. She could already guess what Tori's answer would be.

"I'm already afraid of you. What's the difference?" The rest of the sentence slowly sunk in, and Jade was silent, waiting for Tori to question it.

"Why would I be afraid of you after watching it?...Is your character more psychotic than you are?" Jade feigned offense for a moment, but brushed it off and answered playfully,

"You'll have to wait until January."

An hour later, Tori and Jade were several blocks away from the restaurant and Jade's car, walking off their dinner as they tried to come up with something to do next. Neither of them had planned much beyond their meal, and now they were all dressed up with nowhere to go. They exchanged ideas, some serious, some not-so-much, and after they'd walked three or four blocks, Tori took a chance and grabbed Jade's hand, locking their fingers together as her nervous face turned pink.

"Looks like it's gonna rain." Jade mumbled, suddenly aware of how much closer to Tori she was, compared to when they'd first started walking. It was strange how natural it felt. She'd turned off the acting for a night and real life was moving a lot more smoothly than she'd expected it to.

"We should probably go back soon..." Tori said the words but didn't make a move to turn around, so they both kept going in the same direction, in silence for a while.

"I saw Noah yesterday..." Only after it'd come out of her mouth did Jade realize it probably wasn't a subject Tori wanted to talk about on a date. She parted her lips, preparing to take it back, but nothing came out.

"Really? That must have been awkward."

"It was. I don't think he hates me anymore though." Smiling at her, Tori noticed a raindrop fall on the side of Jade's nose.

"_You_ still hate _him_ though, right?" Jade grinned and wiped away another raindrop before answering.

"Of course. I'll forever be jealous that he got you first." The rain started coming down a little harder, and Tori took it as her queue to turn around. With her fingers still intertwined with Jade's, she steered the girl back in the direction of the restaurant.

"I knew you were jealous of him." Thunder rumbled in the sky and the storm started to pick up. The sky let loose, and within another few minutes, Tori and Jade were running down the street through the rain.

"I can't run in heels!" Jade shouted after Tori, who had broken free and ended up a few steps ahead of her. "If I break my ankle and can't work for two months, I expect you to pay my medical bills for me!" Jade continued to complain as she trailed behind Tori for another block, until the leading girl stopped short and pulled her date inside a building on the corner. Once inside, they realized it was a laundromat, abandoned in wake of the storm. A couple lights were on, but the big storefront window lining the street wasn't bringing in much else in terms of light, so the place was rather gloomy. The radio wasn't tuned in correctly either, and something too staticky to recognize was playing quietly behind them as Tori and Jade peered out the window at the suddenly flooding streets.

"That came out of nowhere..." Tori mumbled, only to realize as she turned that Jade had disappeared. The radio suddenly got louder and the soaked singer realized that Jade had gone to fix it. A few seconds later, she was back, and some 90s alternative rock was playing through the tiny speakers mounted in the corners of the room.

"Looks like we're stuck for now." She paused, wrapping an arm around Tori's waist. "I rolled my windows up, right?" Tori curled her arms around Jade's neck, burying her face in the girl's shoulder as she started to sway back and forth with the music.

"Hopefully." Jade was denying Tori's nonverbal requests to dance with her, but she couldn't help but smile at how little the girl cared about the flash flood outside. "You never rolled them down," she muttered a moment later, her hands slipping down to Jade's waist. "Now dance with me."

"I don't slow dance." Even as she said it, Jade found herself swaying in time with Tori, despite her efforts to resist it.

"Yes you do, come on." That was all it took for Tori to coerce Jade into dancing with her. Soon they were doing some sort of improvised slow dance in the middle of the laundromat, with their arms wrapped around each other tight. The song changed, but they kept going. Jade moved in time with the music, her eyes shut tight as Tori hummed in her ear. Their first official date had turned into something completely unexpected. Usually, it would be a little too cheesy and cliche for Jade's taste, but with Tori she didn't mind. The rainstorm had made it interesting, and now, with her wet hair plastered to her bare shoulders and Tori's damp skin sticking to her own, she was dancing in an otherwise abandoned building, not minding it at all.

"Lead me," Tori started to sing along, just loud enough for Jade to hear it, "out on the moonlit floor,"

"Lift your open hand" Jade couldn't fight it, and started to join her. Though she didn't want to admit it, she'd learned every word to this song as a child, and it was almost impossible not to sing along to. "Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance-" They didn't even finish the chorus before their lips smacked together and they stumbled back toward the nearest laundry machine. It was sudden and impulsive and neither of them could tell who had started it but no one was trying to stop it.

Tori pulled herself up on top of the aged yellow washing machine, and though it wobbled beneath her she pulled Jade up against it, wrapping her legs around the surprisingly gentle woman's torso as she kissed her as hard as she possibly could. As the rain poured down, Tori's lips left Jade's and forged a path along her jaw, down to her neck. Eyes closed, Jade tilted her head back even further as Tori mindlessly nibbled at her collarbone.

"Yours," she breathed, "or mine?" Tori curled her fingers around her date's before she answered, staring straight into her eyes.

"You pick."

The storm had only just barely let up, and as the two women sprinted down the sidewalk, barefoot holding their shoes, they were pelted with raindrops, and by the time they closed Jade's car doors behind them, they were dripping wet from head to toe. Soggy clothes didn't stop Jade from leaning over the console for one last kiss before starting the engine, and soon the two of them were holding hands on the drive back to Tori's apartment.

They barely made it into the parking garage before they were at it again, attaching their lips in the car, against the passenger side door, in the elevator, in the hallway, and just inside the entrance of Tori's apartment. Only when Jade excused herself to use the bathroom did they part, and for those few minutes, Tori patted her soaking wet hair with a kitchen towel, cringing at the sight of herself in the mirror mounted on the wall above the tiny desk in her living room. The longer she waited, the faster her heart beat, and soon she was lying flat on her back in her bedroom, taking in the smell of her clean sheets while she tried to relax.

Finally, Jade escaped from the bathroom and appeared in the doorway of Tori's room, still soaking wet but looking less like a drowned racoon than before, with the majority of her makeup cleaned off. Her lips parted, like she was about to say something, but instead of speaking, Jade reached behind her, and Tori could hear the sound of her zipper. Now, she was scared, but she was so caught up in the moment and the look on Jade's face and the way that her rain-soaked dress clung to every curve of her body that she couldn't reject the actress' advances.

Jade stepped closer, the sound of her heavy breathing disguised by the violent thunder outside, and she stopped at the foot of the bed, standing between Tori's legs. Without a word, her fingers played with the hem of her companion's purple dress, and with little difficulty, she peeled it off of her, flinging it across the room as if it were nothing. Where lace gave way to tanned, goosebump-ridden skin, Jade touched her lips down, tasting the rain water still holding onto the surface of Tori's chest. She struggled a little, a moment later, when she started to shimmy out of her form-fitting black dress. It fell at her feet and she placed one knee on the mattress between Tori's thighs, pushing her back on the bed as the flustered girl quit breathing at the sight of her.

Anxiety filled her up to the top as Tori felt Jade's skin on her own, and Jade's lips on her neck. There was adrenaline pumping through her at the same time, and that urged her to keep going, to push Jade off of her so she could take the top spot instead. Her body went on without her, lips pressed to lips, fingers trailing along the damp curves of Jade's body beneath her. It felt right only in the physical sense. She couldn't stop herself, but Tori's mind was in overdrive, telling her to back out while she still could. Though her eyes were closed, Tori's brain was filled with images of Jade in her revealing emerald colored undergarments, and the sound of the woman's voice at the start of their date, when she'd asked her that simple question about colors. _Blue or green, _she'd wanted to know. _Green, _came the answer. At the time it had never occurred to Tori to question what she was choosing colors for, but now, the realization had punched her in the gut. Jade had been asking her to choose the color of something she wouldn't see unless their date led to the bedroom. Jade had known things would end up here. She'd _wanted_ them to and she expected it from Tori. It was their _first date_, and Tori wasn't that kind of girl, but it was hard to tell herself that when she was on top of Jade, nearly naked, in her bed. All the same, the fear that she was being played consumed her, and soon enough she tore herself away and sat up.

Jade lay on her back, looking up at Tori with a surprisingly small degree of confusion on her face. Staring back at her, the nervous wreck of a girl didn't say a word, and only shivered, both from anxiety and from the cold air in the room hitting her damp skin. When Tori didn't say anything or even try to explain why she'd stopped, Jade finally spoke up.

"Do you want me to-"

"I can't- I don't- What am I doing?" The dazed actress didn't have an explanation, so she stayed silent, keeping her eyes on Tori's burning red cheeks. "This is only our first date, I... Jade, I l- I _really_ like you, but this is all kind of new, and I've never... I want to _make you happy_, but I don't know how to...do _this, _and..."

"And what, you think I do?"

"I don't know..." Tears started to form in Tori's eyes, and Jade pulled herself out from under her, sitting cross-legged at the head of the bed as her hands caressed the sides of Tori's face.

"Hey. Don't be a baby. I've never done this either. I can't promise you I'll be any good...but if you're worried about disappointing, you won't. The only way you could disappoint me right now is to tell me you've secretly got a penis...which, actually, I might be kind of open to. Maybe." Eyes wide, Tori stared back at her with a mildly disturbed expression on her face. "God, Tori, that was a joke. Lighten up. If you don't want to do it, we won't do it."

"Really?" A genuine smile showed itself on Jade's face, and she leaned forward to wrap her arms around Tori's shoulder. Resting her chin on the singer's shoulder, she started rubbing her back, speaking softly into Tori's wet hair.

"Of course. I won't pressure you into doing anything you're not sure about. I know how that feels...and _honestly_...I don't know if I'm ready either. You're right. This is only our first date. We're not the kind of girls who _do those things_." Jade's words did the trick, and Tori pulled away from her, laughing.

"You mean it?" Jade reflected her smile back at her.

"_Yes_. I'm no dirty pervert. I don't do disgusting things like that. I was just trying to hug you." They were both silent for a moment, as the power went out and everything went silent, only to rev back up again a few seconds later.

The breeze coming from the accelerating ceiling fan above Tori's bed brushed a tiny strand of dry hair out of her face, and she caught Jade watching it fly around above her ear. Ending the awkwardness, Tori leaned into kiss her surprisingly understanding date one last time, only for a hand to meet with her stomach and shove her off the bed the second that her lips touched Jade's.

"_Oww!"_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Thanks once again for waiting. I should be resolving the main source of my stress by next week, so hopefully I'll be able to update a little more frequently in the coming months. **_

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry." Jade repeated herself for the tenth time, curled up in the corner of the couch, wearing some of Tori's old sweats. Tori herself lay across the cushions, with her feet in Jade's lap and an ice pack pressed against her temple.<p>

"Stop apologizing, it's creeping me out." Tori smiled, despite the large bump that had appeared on the side of her head when she smacked it on her dresser earlier. Jade didn't seem to know her own strength - unless, of course, she'd done it on propose. Something about her guilt seemed to be sincere, though. It hurt, sure, but Tori was much more concerned with the horrified look that had come across Jade's face the second it happened, and the number of times she'd genuinely apologized afterward. Jade had never been the type of person to feel bad about other people's pain, and something seemed a little off, only in a way that wasn't quite so bad.

"I'm just making sure you know it's not my fault that you fell in the direction of a piece of furniture."

"Yes it is! You _pushed me _in that direction!" Distracted from her pain, Tori set her ice pack down on the floor beside the couch and pulled herself up into a seated position.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't my intention to give you a concussion. I was just messing around." Neither of them so much as blinked when Jade reached out to set her hand on Tori's knee, and Tori only stared back at her with a slight smile when the actress' fingers crawled a little further up her leg.

"I'm fine. You just need to learn your way around my bedroom so you'll know what you're pushing me toward next time." It didn't even occur to Jade that Tori's words sounded a little off until the girl went silent and turned red. "Oh my god. Why did I even open my mouth? I did _not_ mean it that way."

"_Sure_." Jade only said the one word, but her eyes were speaking for her. Tori could only imagine all the dirty things she was restraining herself from saying out loud.

"Umm... do you want some ice cream or something? I think I have a few different flavors in the freezer." Tori stood up and moved to the kitchen, though she wasn't hungry. Her embarrassment and discomfort could only be dealt with by stuffing her face, so she rifled through the freezer for something to eat.

"Uh, no, I should probably go home. It's getting kind of late." No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the lights flickered and died, changing her mind instantly. "On second thought, maybe I will."

"Don't wanna take the stairs?" Tori guessed accurately in the dark, while she reached into the drawer she kept her flashlight in. A second later, the light shone in Jade's face, nearly blinding her. She reached across the counter, ripping the device from Tori's hand and then smacking her on the shoulder with it.

"Ow! How do you expect me to date you if you're just gonna keep hurting me!"

"I don't know, I guess you'll just need to put my happiness before your own." Jade laughed to make sure Tori knew it was supposed to be a joke, and aimed the flashlight at the tub of ice cream slowly melting in front of her. Tori had scooped out some of it into one bowl, which she pushed toward Jade, giving the girl a reason to smile as she thought about how Beck would have just passed the ice cream to her and taken the first bowl for himself. Granted, she probably would've made some passive aggressive remark about his misogynistic assumption that she couldn't do it for herself, and he would've expected that. With Tori it was different though, so this time Jade let herself be catered to without saying a word.

Tori scooped the last of the ice cream into a small bowl for herself and left the spoon in the empty container. She took a few bites, watching the outline of Jade's shadowed body as she licked her spoon in silence. Tori wondered if she was acting this way because she was disappointed with what had happened - or technically, what _hadn't _happened - earlier, or if she just felt awkward because _Tori _felt awkward.

"Do you..." The sudden sound of Tori's voice visibly startled Jade. She flinched at the sound and nearly dropped her spoon. "Do you want to spend the night then?" Jade took another bite from her own bowl and grabbed the flashlight off the counter, pointing it straight up at the ceiling before she answered.

"No, I really should go home. I've got an audition in the morning that I haven't really prepared for, and I...I..." She lost her train of thought when her eyes caught Tori's, the only part of her that was visible by the light of the flash light. "I should probably go now, actually. I could use a little exercise. Who knows when the power will be back on."

"Oh, alright. I...had fun tonight. I, umm- We'll go somewhere better next time." She raised her voice a bit, as Jade wandered off to the bathroom, where her dress from earlier was hanging from the shower curtain rod in an effort to dry it.

"We better." Jade cracked a little joke when she returned to the main room and started to feel her way toward the door. "Oh, Tori?"

"Yeah?"

"Come here." Semi nervously, Tori abandoned the last of her dessert and rounded the counter top, moving to the entryway where Jade was standing, slipping her shoes back on while her damp black dress hung over her forearm. She looked like she was smiling, Tori thought, but she couldn't be sure in the dark.

"We _are _the type of girls who kiss on the first date."

"Oh." Tori didn't know what to say, and as was evident in her voice, she didn't understand right away what Jade was saying. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly as she caught on. "Are we?"

"Well, we better be, 'cause I'm gonna do it." Her mouth kept moving, but it didn't get any closer to Tori.

"Okay then. Go ahead." It should've been awkward, but somehow it wasn't. The fact that they could hardly see each other's faces helped, of course.

"Don't tell me what to do."

"_Just kiss me._" Jade's one empty hand brushed Tori's jaw for a second before she followed through and planted a kiss on Tori's lips, just long enough to make her head spin but not long enough to satisfy her.

"Call me tomorrow." Tori nodded before realizing Jade probably couldn't see her, with the flashlight abandoned in the kitchen.

"I will."

Jade disappeared through the door, using the light of her cell phone to guide her to the stairs, which were luckily lit by emergency lights. Back in the apartment, Tori stood by the door for a minute, recapping the nights events in her head. Pieces of it seemed like a completely normal date. Other parts had been a little awkward, but that was mainly because she'd made it that way by letting her fears get to her. She had nothing to worry about, she decided, just as the lights finally came back on. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't going to.

Tori did as she'd been told and called Jade the next day at lunch time, mostly just to ask how the audition had gone. She knew the answer, but she she also knew that deep down Jade wanted to be asked about her life. She didn't usually share much of it, but if she were serious about the relationship, Tori was going to rip every little detail out of her. She'd always been nosy that way.

The phone call lasted nearly an hour, until Tori's work week started early, and she had to leave for the first of several meetings. The next few days went much the same way, and had it not been for Jade, Tori felt sure she would've lost her mind by the end of it. She wasn't much interested in the business part of the whole thing, but sometimes it seemed like that was all it was. It was for her own good, she knew, and they were planning great things for her, but it sure got tiring. Luckily Jade had been spending every evening at Tori's apartment for dinner, so she had someone to vent to - someone who loved to hear her complain.

Friday night Tori's schedule was cleared, and so was Jade's, so the two of them went out for dinner, in favor of concocting something from the contents of Tori's fridge or ordering out, as they'd been doing all week. After that, Tori decided to take Jade somewhere she thought she'd like, despite it being an unusual place for a date.

"What exactly is it that you do when you come here?" Tori was cautious as she asked, but her unusually quiet date didn't seem to mind.

"Whatever it is you think I do." She grinned as Tori's foot caught the edge of a tombstone and she nearly fell.

"Dance on the graves of dead babies and then dig up their bodies to make jewelry out of their bones?"

"That's really morbid, Tori." The red-faced pop singer glanced over at her with flaming cheeks. "I'm proud of you." She leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, but kept walking.

"Actually, what I usually do is way more boring than that. I just like to come here, walk around, read the tombstones... It's more about the atmosphere, really. These places just kind of give off a vibe that I like."

"Aww, Jade. That's so normal. For you, at least. _I'm proud of you._" Jade only rolled her eyes at Tori's teasing and stopped in front of a large tombstone, her eyes traveling along each letter in silence.

"What do you think her story is?" She asked, squeezing Tori's fingers between her own. Tori studied the tombstone and tried to come up with a story.

"Well," Tori thought out loud, "she died young obviously. She would've been what, 23?" Jade only shrugged and left the math to Tori. "She died in 1929. That was during prohibition. She could have...been involved in organized crime. Maybe she double crossed a gangster. Or she could have died during childbirth. Maybe she died of Polio, or..."

"Maybe she offed herself because sobriety sucks."

"Always the optimist." Tori laughed, sliding an arm around Jade's waist and resting her head on the temporarily melancholy actress' shoulder. "What's wrong?" Jade knew better than to answer "nothing." Tori certainly knew what that meant.

"I just... I haven't heard back about that audition yet. I thought it went pretty well. Usually with these kind of roles they call back in a few days."

"Well, sometimes it takes time to make those kind of decisions. It hasn't even been a week yet. And if you don't hear from them...then there are plenty of sane casting directors out there who _will_ cast you." As the words sank in, a smile spread across the actress' face, and her whole face brightened up a little.

"Thanks for being realistic." With that, she pulled Tori into a hug, pressing her lips to the brunette's hairline for a moment.

"You're welcome."

They stayed in the cemetery a little while longer, searching through the mass of stones commemorating lives that no longer existed, laughing at the funny names. Eventually, they made it back to where Tori had parked her car, and climbed inside, only to sit in silence without moving.

"You know, when we started doing this," Tori started, speaking softly, "and we were trying to come up with our story?"

"Yes." Jade answered quickly. "We decided to say you'd had a crush on me since high school, didn't we? And you supposedly made me go to some stupid wedding with you, or something like that."

"Yeah...well, you teased me about it. You asked me if any of it was true, and I said no, but really, I... I _did _have a giant crush on you in high school." The redness in her face was spreading down her neck and across her collarbone, before Jade rolled her eyes and responded,

"I know." She pushed her hair back and twisted in the passenger seat. "I knew the whole time. You were a lot of fun to torture." The embarrassed singer scowled, her eyebrows pinching together as she glared at her date.

"I hate you."

"No you don't."

"You're right."

For a few more minutes, they reminisced about their adolescent days, though it was an awkward subject for the two of them, given the relationship they'd had back then. Eventually, it came time to move on from that subject, and only then did Tori start the car. Half an hour later, she parked it in front of Jade's building, but neither of them was ready for the night to end, so they were both hesitant to get out.

"I, umm... I know I was kind of in a bad mood tonight, but I still had a good time." Jade's cheeks always turned red at this time of the night. She never had been very good at saying goodbye to people she liked. "I would kiss you, but I'm getting over a little cold, so, umm..." She suddenly reached out, across the console between them, grabbed both of Tori's hands and, completely unashamed, placed them on her breasts. Her face was blank for a moment, as Tori's eyes widened and every inch of skin on her body turned pink, causing Jade to grin at the sight of her embarrassment. Slowly, she loosened her grip on Tori's wrists and let her pull away.

"You're welcome." Jade then unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the car door, and went inside, abandoning her date on the curb, where she sat in the driver's seat for several minutes, too flustered to go home just yet.

After the second date, Tori finally allowed herself to believe that Jade was serious about the relationship, and Thursday afternoon she found herself visiting a locksmith to get the key to her apartment duplicated. Even after she'd moved her spare key a few times, Jade always managed to find it anyway, so it was about time to just give her one, she thought.

It sat at the bottom of her purse all through the weekend, although Tori and Jade spent nearly every minute of it together. Tori had a handful of shows out of town starting on Monday, so she was trying to make the best of her weekend. They didn't do anything too remarkable - Friday night they went to see a movie, and they spent Saturday afternoon at the home improvement store near Tori's apartment, arguing over their different taste in decorations. They spent the rest of the evening watching a CSI marathon on TV, and eventually Jade fell asleep on the couch, where she stayed until the next morning.

Now, the two of them were sitting across from each other in a booth at the diner down the street, sneaking peeks at the other over the tops of their breakfast menus every few seconds, instead of deciding what they wanted to eat. When the waitress came, Jade spit out the name of the first meal she saw on the menu, and Tori ordered the same thing, embarrassed that she hadn't been paying enough attention to the menu to decide for herself.

Their food came quickly, and they made very little conversation as they ate, though they made up for it in other ways. Tori pretended not to notice that Jade was sliding her foot up her leg, but she kept her eyes on her, nearly missing her mouth with her fork a few times because of her inability to look away. When the waitress brought the bill, Tori reached into her bag for her credit card, but before she could take it out, Jade ripped the bill from her hand and insisted on paying instead. Tori was too surprised that Jade was offering to pay to insist on doing it herself, and she only smiled, her cheeks burning red while her fingers wrapped around the key sitting at the bottom of her bag. She squeezed it so hard it dug into her skin, while Jade placed a couple bills on the table and stood up to leave.

Out in the parking lot, Tori finally pulled the key out of her bag, though it stayed in her sweaty palm for most of the walk back to her apartment. It wasn't until they were in the elevator that she finally built up the courage to say something and hand it over.

"Jade?"

"What?" Impatiently, Jade beat the door close button, though it didn't make them move any faster.

"I, umm... I want you to have this." She held her hand out flat, palm up. Jade's eyebrows arched upward, though she didn't say anything. "I just figured, since you're in my apartment all the time anyway, you might as well have a key."

"Oh, umm...You do know I can get inside without this though, don't you?"

"I'll feel better about you entering my home knowing you've got my permission." With that, Jade shrugged and snatched the key from Tori's hand, reaching into her purse for her key ring, which she placed it on right there in the elevator.

"That takes all the fun out of it." Pouting, Jade stuffed the keys back into her bag and leaned in to kiss Tori, lingering there until the elevator doors finally opened. They then went back inside for a while, clinging to each other on the couch for a few hours until Jade finally pulled herself away and reluctantly ended their weekend together. They said they goodbyes, and Jade made sure to be just threatening enough when she told Tori to be good while she was out of town. Tori insisted she would be, but Jade was obviously still uneasy about it. She knew how little self-control Tori had, and that only fed her paranoia. Tori assured her she had nothing to worry about. She loved her too much already to risk screwing things up.


	22. Chapter 22

Just after ten o'clock Tuesday night, Tori returned to her hotel room after the second of that week's five shows. She immediately pulled her laptop out of her suitcase and took a seat on the bed, ready for the video-chat date she was already five minutes late for. While the computer started up, she fixed her makeup in the mirror, though she knew no amount of makeup would stop Jade from playfully insulting her appearance. She had just barely signed on before her laptop started ringing, signaling that someone was calling. When she answered, Jade's face popped up on the screen, in front of what was clearly Tori's own living room.

"Are you in my apartment?"

"No complaints. You gave me a key." Tori only smiled and shook her head. She should've expected it.

"You look pretty." Even with the bad video quality, Tori could tell that Jade's face was turning red, as it always did when she complimented her that way. Jade's reaction was precisely the reason that she did it so often. It gave the girl more happiness than she knew what to do with.

"You look tired." _Close enough_, Tori thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"I am. I've been up since 5:30 this morning. Hopefully my next single will be successful enough that I'll be able to pay my bills without driving all over the place, singing to small groups of people who'd much rather be _anywhere_ else."

"It's better than playing for tips on a street corner."

"_That it is._ I get a lot of the same people though..." She shuddered, thinking back to the creeps that had hit on her after the show earlier that evening. "I'm starting to feel like I might sell a lot more albums if I just give in and performed naked."

"You better not." Jade's face was completely emotionless, and Tori wasn't sure if she was serious or not, so she awkwardly tried to play it off with a smile.

"I was kidding. I'm saving my birthday suit specifically for someone else." Jade didn't move an inch. "_You._"

"Yeah, I get it."

"It was a joke, Jade. Come on. What's with you tonight?" She noticed when Jade leaned back a little that the actress was drinking something out of Tori's favorite mug. She sighed, set the mug back down beside her computer, and forced a smile.

"I'm sorry. I'm really tired too. I haven't been able to sleep much in my own apartment because of my new neighbor, so I came over here, but your couch is really not that comfortable and-"

"You slept on my couch? If you're gonna sneak into my apartment while I'm not there you should sleep in my bed."

"Oh, uh...I don't-" She obviously felt awkward about it, and Tori understood why she might be, though she still thought it was ridiculous. If Jade was comfortable sleeping in Tori's apartment at all without her knowledge, she shouldn't have any qualms about sleeping in her bed.

"Jade. Sleep in my bed tonight. It's fine. Besides, I don't want you to be tired and grumpy when I come home." She winked, and Jade's face instantly went red once again. Before she could say anything though, a knock came from Tori's end, drawing the singer's attention from her computer. She excused herself and got up to answer the door, while Jade leaned back in the desk chair and took another sip of coffee from the purple mug she'd been nursing for nearly half an hour. It was cold by now, but that didn't change the effectiveness of the caffeine she'd been craving all day. She could only just barely hear the rumbling sound of a man's voice, being picked up by Tori's computer. Tori kept laughing about whatever it was he was saying, and with each giggle, Jade found herself squeezing the coffee mug even harder, until it slipped out of her hands and fell, clattering on the hardwood. The paranoid caffeine addict crouched down to pick it up immediately, relieved that it hadn't broken. She rushed the mug to the kitchen and placed it in the sink, snatching a roll of paper towels off the countertop so she could clean up the mess before Tori returned.

"Sorry about that." Tori breathed, slipping back under the covers of her bed and placing her computer in her lap once again, just as Jade sank back into the desk chair and leaned against the desk as if she hadn't moved. "That was just Jason, he's umm... Hunter couldn't come on this trip for some reason, so Jason's his temporary replacement. He was telling me about how some drunk naked guy was just running up and down the hallway outside his room earlier, singing one of my songs... Weird, huh?" At the end of her anecdote, Tori noticed how white Jade's stoic face was, and it worried her a little.

"Jade?" The pale girl on the other end only stared back at her, shrugging as if to say she wasn't the least bit jealous. Tori didn't buy it. "I only just met the guy yesterday. He was just telling me a story. There's no need to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous." Paranoid was more like it, Jade thought to herself, inwardly cringing at the realization of how insecure she still was.

"_Jade. _You have no reason at all to be jealous of anybody, okay? I know that won't stop you, but I do want you to know that I would _always _rather be with you. I love you." They both realized just then that it was the first time either one of them had truly said it before, and Jade thawed out almost immediately.

"Do you?"

"Yeah," Tori answered with a smile, "I do. I would've liked to say it for the first time in person, but...Yes, I love you. Very much." The heartfelt smile that appeared on Jade's face made Tori glad that she'd said it.

"I...love you too."

"Good." Tori laughed a little uncomfortably, Jade joined her, and soon they moved on with the conversation as if no one had said a thing. They talked for another hour, and although she wanted to stay online, Tori knew she had to get up early again, so she started to cut off the conversation. Naturally, their goodbyes lasted another hour, and it was past midnight before they truly said goodnight.

"Are we doing this again tomorrow?" Jade asked, resting her elbows on the desk as she placed her chin in the palms of her hands.

"That's the plan." Tori smiled,

"Good. Maybe I'll show you my boobs if you're on time."

"Oh, will you?" Tori laughed, her cheeks turning a light magenta color as Jade stared at her in a rather seductive way.

"Yeah, you just have to promise not to drool all over your keyboard. I can't be held responsible if you destroy your computer." Tori's face burned red, and she tried not to laugh as she officially said goodnight.

"_Okay, _I'm leaving now. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Jade whispered with a smile, "I love you." Tori only pressed her fingers to her lips, briefly touched the lense of her webcam, and mouthed, _I love you too, _before she disconnected and crawled into bed. She curled up with her arms around a pillow and fell asleep feeling terribly lonely.

The rest of the week inched by at a slow speed, and by the time Friday rolled around, Tori was seriously considering changing professions. She knew she'd change her mind once she reached the level of notoriety where the crowds she performed for actually wanted to see her, but at the time it sure wasn't what she'd hoped it'd be. She'd hoped to be closer to that level after her appearance on the late show, but it hadn't quite had the effect on her popularity that she'd wanted.

It was late when the last show of the trip ended, and she had the room booked for another night, but Tori packed up all her things and left as soon as she could. She missed her apartment, and she missed Jade, and even though she knew it was good for her to separate herself from the two once in a while, Tori couldn't wait to be home.

The trip down the interstate was horrifically monotonous, and making the drive alone nearly put her to sleep. She cracked the window to let in a little air and turned on the radio to the 90s station she'd been listening to earlier, only to start tearing up the second the sound of Sixpence's "Kiss Me" flooded the speakers. Tori didn't turn it off, but she did pull her car off onto the shoulder, where she rested her forehead on the steering wheel and squeezed her eyes shut hard to keep the tears from coming out.

How did she expect to ever make a name for herself in music if she couldn't leave home for more than a few days without being miserable? If she ever reached the career goal she'd had planned since she was sixteen, she'd be on the road all the time - alone. Sure, she'd have her band with her, but honestly she couldn't stand the guys anymore. Tori also knew that if Jade stuck around, her acting career would take her away too, and while Tori could trust much more easily, her girlfriend wouldn't be able to handle it. It took several more minutes of Tori telling herself they'd be able to make it through that before she could put the car back in drive and pull back onto the interstate. It wasn't like she'd really have to worry about it for a long time anyway, she reminded herself.

The clock had just barely struck three when Tori parked her car and started dragging her things back upstairs. Inside, the apartment was dark and perfectly quiet. Still, the melancholy performer dropped her things in the living room and quietly snuck into her bedroom, only to see the sheets pulled tight across her empty queen-sized bed. Part of her was disappointed, she couldn't lie about that. With her thoughts from earlier clouding her brain, along with the returning loneliness she'd forgotten about once she'd arrived back home, Tori returned to the parking garage to retrieve the last of her things. It took twice as long to get upstairs this time, but once she got there, she noticed something she hadn't at first.

On top of the kitchen counter was a blank sheet of paper with a small silver key shining on the center of it. There was no note, but Tori knew exactly what it was, and this tiny gift cheered her up exponentially. It wasn't until she'd unpacked everything and gone to bed that her fears returned once again, this time for good. She tried to shake them but it was just one of those nights. There was no way to shut off her brain, and Tori finally just accepted that she wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon.

Lying in the center of the bed, the unusually insecure songstress held onto her pillow, pulling it up against her chest hard. The familiar smell embedded in the fabric brought her some peace, but still Tori couldn't sleep. The longer she breathed in the aroma of Jade's shampoo, the more restless she got, and even though the sun was just barely starting to rise, Tori grabbed her keys, snatched the new one off the kitchen counter, and left the home she'd just barely returned to.

There were birds chirping somewhere within the vicinity of Jade's door when Tori approached it, and she thought for a moment about how early it was, as she slid the key into the lock without any difficulty and entered her girlfriend's pitch black apartment. By the light of her pearphone, Tori forged a path to the tiny bedroom, where the door was slightly ajar. Pushing it open, Tori could see the outline of a body under the bed sheets illuminated by the tiny bits of daylight forcing their way through the cracks in the blinds. Suddenly she felt much more at home, and without another thought she climbed into the bed beside Jade, snuggling up right behind her. As Tori slid her arm over Jade's side, the sleeping actress began to stir.

"Shh, shh. It's just me..." There was silence for a moment when Jade quit moving.

"Is this some kind of...late night booty call?" She mumbled, still half asleep.

"No," Tori laughed, "I just got home and I'm too restless to sleep. I missed you."

"Oh."

"I love you." The more-conscious girl wrapped her fingers around Jade's hand under the sheets as she relaxed, all her concerns floating to the back of her mind now that she was home.

"I'm gonna love you in the morning." The tired actress breathed, falling back asleep before Tori had a chance to ask if Jade meant what she thought she meant.

With Jade deep in slumber beside her, Tori continued to lie awake, though now she didn't mind it so much. She had nowhere to be until three o'clock the following afternoon anyway, and even then, it was going to be a lazy day. It was time for one of those, after the week she'd just run through.

The birds outside started to congregate closer to Jade's bedroom window, and their chirping began to get louder as time ticked by. The increasing traffic added to the noise as the clock struck six, and not long after, Tori gave up on any hope of ever falling asleep and just lay in her girlfriend's bed, her face pressed against Jade's hair, her chest to the sleeping woman's back, and her fingers lightly running across her hip while she slept.

The slowly dying peacefulness of early morning came to an abrupt halt just after seven, when a blood-curdling scream erupted from the other side of the bedroom wall. Tori was instantly jolted from her relaxed state and nearly fell out of the bed when it happened again.

"_Jade._" She whispered roughly into the sleeping girl's ear as she tried to shake her awake. _"Jade, did you hear that?"_

"It's just my new neighbor." Jade answered nonchalantly, as if it were nothing.

"Getting murdered?"

"Having sex." Laughing felt inappropriate, with what sounded like pained screaming coming from the apartment next door, but Tori did it anyway, as Jade only brushed it off.

"Having sex? At 7 AM? ...Why is she screaming like that? Is that natural? She sounds like she's dying." A quiet hum escaped Jade's lips before she mumbled sleepily,

"I don't know baby. Just ignore it. She's not gonna stop. She does it every day. She has a problem." Tori wrapped her arms around Jade tightly as the disruptive early morning activities of the neighbor woman continued.

"_Baby?" _She teased, not letting the opportunity to acknowledge Jade's use of the pet name pass, even though she was disoriented and half asleep..

"I'm tired, shut up." Jade mumbled something else, but it was unintelligible and she didn't really mean to take back her little act of love anyway.

Soon after that, things went silent next door, and Tori finally drifted off, if only for a few hours. Jade, on the other hand, fell back asleep, but only for a little while. She was in and out of consciousness for the next couple hours, and eventually she accepted that she was finished with any form of restful sleep. She waited for the clock to strike ten, and then she gently released herself from Tori's grasp and got out of bed.

Jade decided to be nice and let Tori sleep, considering the week she'd just had, and she took the few solitary moments she had while her girlfriend slept to clean herself up. She took a quick shower, though she skipped over washing her hair, and brushed her teeth before changing back into her pajamas as if she'd naturally woken up with smooth, hairless skin, smelling of mango. As she stared into the mirror, Jade fought with herself over whether or not to put any makeup on, and eventually decided against it. Tori was ready, she thought, and Jade knew that _she _was. It was going to happen today and she wanted it to be as natural as possible. Besides, it was unfair to Tori, with her sleepy eyes and her bedhead, for Jade to look that good.

Just after eleven, she slipped back into the bedroom, telling herself she'd give Tori another hour before she woke her up. Jade didn't have to wait that long though, because despite her lack of sleep the night before - and the entire preceding week - Tori was somehow unable to stay asleep for more than a few hours, and she woke up on her own within fifteen minutes, opening her eyes to the sight of Jade's face, barely an inch in front of her own.

"Good morning." She rasped, her voice still tired and unwilling to come out. Jade only smiled as she took a moment to clear her throat. Tori could just barely see the clock over her companion's shoulder, where it read 11:29. "What's for lunch?" Her voice was back in time for a little joke.

"...Me." Jade answered rather confidently, albeit slowly. Her sleepy-eyed girlfriend paused for a moment, considering it, before she answered back with the same amount of confidence.

"Okay."

"Really?" It was obvious that Jade was trying to keep a straight face. Her lips may have been pulled into an emotionless line, but Tori saw a smile in her eyes.

"Yeah. I'm sure. Just...give me a second." Tori climbed out of bed and left Jade lying there as she went to use the restroom and brush her teeth with the travel toothbrush she still had in her purse from her trip. She hadn't felt so sure about anything in a very long time, and so she returned to the bedroom without fighting with herself over it.

Back in bed, Tori was the one to close the gap between them, pulling Jade into a long but soft kiss, which continued as the refreshingly upbeat actress crawled on top of her. Jade broke the kiss, letting her lips trail down Tori's chin and onto her neck instead. Eyes closed, Tori took in the feeling of the warm flesh of Jade's hands caressing the side of her face and the exposed skin along her stomach. She couldn't bring herself to move at all while Jade touched her in an agonizingly slow manner, but finally her eyelids fluttered open, and she found herself staring into the hollow black holes where a different pair of eyes used to be, on the face of some sort of animal skull. It sat directly in the middle of the shelf opposite Jade's bed, and Tori couldn't help but feel like it was staring at her.

"J-Jade." She struggled to spit out her lover's name, but it stopped her right away.

"What?" Still straddling Tori's hips, the aforementioned actress sat up straight, her unusually relaxed dark hair hanging like curtains around her face.

"Uhh, could you...?" Jade twisted to see what Tori was motioning at, and started laughing at her when she saw what it was that was bothering the girl so much.

"You want me to cover that up?"

"I don't want an audience."

"Tori, it's dead."

"_So! _It's creeping me out. Jade, please. I don't know what any of that other stuff up there even _is, _so I won't make you cover it, but the skull..." With a deep sigh, Jade ripped one of the pillows off the bed, sliding it out of the pillowcase, which she then used to cover the most offensive of her bedroom decorations before she happily resumed what she'd started. She'd just barely crawled back on top of her lover before she was stopped again.

"Jade, I..."

"_What?"_ The highly impatient actress growled, which threw Tori off a little at first, as Jade had been so gentle with her so far.

"I'm sorry, I just..." She paused, swallowing hard as the fears she hadn't had in the bathroom hit her full force in the bedroom. "I don't..." Her eyes drifted down Jade's body, and traveled to her own for a moment. "...look like you, and I-"

"_What?" _Jade repeated herself, this time with a laugh and a smile. "Are you- _Tori." _She could barely contain her amusement with Tori's rarely seen self consciousness. "I know you don't. I _like_ that you don't. If I wanted someone who looked like me, you wouldn't be here right now."

"I have the body of a twelve year old." Rolling her eyes, Jade leaned down and pressed her lips to the skin behind Tori's ear.

"No twelve year old has an ass like that." She purred, collapsing on top of her reassured girlfriend as she laughed. Tori pushed her off and, with newfound confidence, climbed on top of her. She bent down to kiss her, as her hands grasped the sides of Jade's head, fingers weaving through her hair. Suddenly, Jade went stiff beneath her, breathing much more slowly while she failed to react to Tori's touch.

"What's wrong? You're not changing your mind, are you?" Violently, Jade shook her head.

"No, no. Kiss me again." The dark haired girl dismissed her strange behavior and pulled Tori back down to kiss her even harder, hoping she would too. Minutes passed, Tori's hands crept beneath the hem of Jade's shirt, slowly pushing it upward. She pressed her lips to her lover's stomach twice before she moved back up to the pale white exposed skin of her neck. Her hands still gripped the bottom of Jade's t-shirt as she pushed it up further, pulling it over Jade's head and dropping it on the floor beside the bed. Her breath caught in her throat, and only just then, when no teasing came of her wide-eyed staring, did it hit her that Jade wasn't responding to her.

"Okay, what is it? I thought you wanted this."

"I do, it's just-" Jade's face went pink and her arms crossed over her chest, as she became the self conscious one. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm sorry. Your insecurity is rubbing off and now I'm all freaked out too and I...It's stupid, but I... I know you've been with more people than I have, and I feel like maybe I won't_-"_

"How many guys do you think I've slept with?" Tori was offended, but she tried to hide it. Jade's terrible self esteem problems were showing themselves once again, and she was more concerned with that.

"I don't _know_. More than me. You've had _a lot_ of boyfriends, Tori." The singer's lips curled as her face softened, surprising Jade to the point of putting a smile on her face as well.

"And I never loved a single one of them as much as I love you. Sometimes it takes a few test drives before you find a good one, you know? You were lucky enough to find a decent one right away... I ended up with some lemons."

"Are you comparing me to a car?" The more self-conscious of the two women made it obvious she didn't approve of the analogy.

"_Maybe..." _Tori slid her hands over Jade's crossed arms. Her fingers combed through the quiet girl's hair, pushing it out of her face. "Now tell me how to restart your engine."

"You can start by _never_ saying things like that again." Tori started to laugh, but she got cut off immediately. _"I'm serious!"_

"Okay, okay! I promise." Jade accepted Tori's agreement with a smile, and they returned to what they'd started without another cautious word. Then, Tori and Jade discovered more through exploration, with the tips of their fingers and tongues, than they had learned about each other through words in the years that had passed since the first day they'd met.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Many apologies for the wait with this one. I thought I'd be able to finish this chapter while I was on break but it turns out when I don't have schoolwork there's nothing to motivate me to do anything but sleep.**_

_**Thanks for sticking with this story though. It means so much to me that this story is as popular as it is. **_

Tori rolled onto her back and focused her eyes on a crack in the ceiling. She knew she should say something, but her whole body was tingling too much to think about words just yet. Beside her, she could hear Jade's heavy breathing, but she didn't speak either.

"Thank you." The words had slipped out before she could stop them. Something needed to be said, but _that _was definitely not it. Right away, Jade started cracking up, laughing at Tori's stupid gratuitous comment.

"Thank _you_." Jade teased, rolling onto her side to give Tori a look of pity.

"That's not what I meant to say." The incredibly embarrassed yet happy woman felt her cheeks burn red.

"You're welcome anyway."

"...So I...?" Tori's cheeks went red at the feeling of her girlfriend's warm hand grasping hers.

"Way better than I thought you'd be." Jade smiled at Tori's discomfort and buried her face in the girl's neck, ignoring her disgustingly sweaty skin as she curled up next to her.

"Your faith in me is astounding." With no response, Tori turned to face her lover, sliding her arm over the actress' bare back just as she spotted the time on Jade's alarm clock.

"_Shit." _Without another word, the suddenly anxious songstress pulled away, leaving her girlfriend lying there in confusion as she rolled off the mattress.

"You're not leaving my bed." The confused and disapproving thespian refused to let her go, reaching out to grab a hold of Tori's wrist without asking for an explanation.

"I _am_, and so are you. We're supposed to meet everyone at Andre's in fifteen minutes."

"What are you talking about?" A disgruntled expression crossed Tori's face due to Jade's forgetfulness before she explained.

"We just talked about this Thursday, remember? I told you, Cat's back in town for the weekend so we're all meeting up at Andre's to catch up." Jade rolled onto her stomach and dangled her arms over the edge of the bed as she watched Tori gather her things off the floor. An expression crossed her face suggesting she was deep in thought.

"Nope. Doesn't ring a bell." She got no response, but Jade did get an exaggerated eye roll from her exasperated girlfriend as the young woman snuck a peek at her reflection in the mirror hanging on Jade's closet door. She immediately grew even more frustrated at the sight of her messy hair, and when she turned around again, Jade was only smiling, still lying on her stomach in bed.

"Go take a shower." Jade ordered, finally pushing herself up into a seated position and pooling her tangled sheets in her lap. Tori sighed and glanced at the mirror again, knowing she wasn't going to be able to get a brush through her tangled tresses. "I kinda have a thing for long hair. Sorry."

"We're gonna be so late. The only clothes I've got with me are my pajamas. I thought I'd be up in time to go back to my place this morning. I didn't plan on being...distracted... " The reliably punctual singer rambled on as she left her things in the bedroom and took Jade's advice, making her way to the shower. She rinsed off and slathered on enough of Jade's conditioner to untangle her hair, but she'd yet to have the chance to wash it out when Jade pulled back the curtain and climbed in, with her jet black hair tied up in a messy bun to prevent it from getting wet. They fought over access to the showerhead for a moment, but Jade won, leaving Tori standing in the little space left over, pulling her fingers through her hair while she waited for Jade to get out.

"_Thank you._" Jade was in an unusually good mood, Tori thought, when the smiling actress leaned over for a kiss as she climbed out of the shower.

Her good mood continued, and when Tori left the bathroom a few minutes later, Jade had set out some clothes for her to wear, and her pajamas were neatly folded on the dresser, next to the bag she'd discarded the night before.

Avoiding the clock, Tori left Jade's bedroom to find her in the kitchen, only halfway dressed. She was stuffing a piece of bread into her mouth in front of the refridgerator, while her black jeans clung to her hips, still unzipped. She gave Tori a rather seductive look, at the sight of the smaller girl in her clothes, but passed on the opportunity to tease her about it.

"Hair dryer's in the drawer to the right of the sink." Jade buttoned her pants and directed Tori back to the bathroom, after a moment of watching her pat her damp hair with a towel. She finished getting dressed and followed her girlfriend into the bathroom so she could juggle the tasks of doing her makeup and making fun of Tori's frazzled appearance at the same time.

"If you don't stop picking on me, I swear I'm going to stab you in the eye with that eyelash curler." Tori's empty threats were counteracted by her laughter. She'd lost track of time and also her concern over being late several minutes earlier, and by the time she shut off the hair dryer she hardly even cared whether they made it to Andre's house or not.

"You're so sexy when you threaten me." Jade purred, dropping her mascara back into the drawer she'd taken it from.

"You've got some bizarre turn-ons, my friend."

"And what does it say about you that you're willing to sleep with me?" Jade lifted an eyebrow as she reached into her makeup drawer one last time and pulled out a tube of lipstick.

"That I love you?" Tori's innocent smile travelled to Jade's face when the actress grabbed her by the chin and started to apply her favorite shade to her girlfriend's mouth.

"And," Jade continued, "you're just as much a freak as I am." She then leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on Tori's pink lips.

Nearly forty-five minutes late, Tori and Jade knocked on Andre's front door, only to be greeted by Cat, who abruptly launched herself at Jade, wrapping her arms around the taller girl so tight that she couldn't breathe. Tori laughed at her facial expression, but the smile was wiped off her face when Cat detached herself from Jade and did the same thing to her.

"It's been _forever_." The tiny redhead squealed, pulling Tori into Andre's home by the hand. "I thought you weren't coming. I have so much to tell you guys!"

"We could say the same thing." Jade mumbled, following the two of them through the house, on their way to the backyard.

"Andre told me you were dating." Cat giggled, but didn't offer any explanation as to why that was funny. "You're so late! I thought you weren't coming at all." Still clutching Tori's hand, Cat pulled her two friends through the glass door leading to Andre's tiny back yard, where he, Beck, and Robbie were all seated in some mismatched lawn chairs beside the grill, which was currently cooking what smelled like hamburger. "Beck said you were probably running late because you were too busy eating but I didn't think that made sense because you knew we were having dinner here, right?" Tori's eyes widened as Cat obliviously rambled on and on. Jade shot a dirty look at Beck, who only shrugged his shoulders and smiled as if he had no idea what she was upset about.

"I got back really late last night, and I overslept." Tori took the blame, but offered no further explanation for why they were so late. She only sat down in an empty chair beside Andre, who seemed to be the only member of the group who was even interested in an explanation.

Soon after Tori and Jade arrived, Andre finished grilling the hamburgers and dinner finally shut Cat up long enough for the rest of the group to update each other on their lives over the past few months.

Robbie had ditched Rex just before Senior year, and since then he'd grown quite a bit. He was still pretty awkward, even now, but he was more comfortable with himself, and was doing pretty well, working behind the scenes with lighting and special effects for a few shows on the Comedy Channel.

Beck, of course, had veered from his original path and was doing really well, running his restaurant. He still had a place in his heart for acting, though, and expressed his desire to try his hand at auditioning again, though it was unlikely it'd lead him anywhere.

Andre was rather quiet when he spoke about where his career had taken him, and Tori found herself avoiding making eye contact as he talked about his prolonged difficulty getting noticed. He'd been paying the bills with the money he made writing jingles for TV commercials, however, and he was really good at it; he had a long list of his work, which everyone recognized and immediately cheered him up by praising.

Tori had almost fallen asleep leaning against Jade in the yellow lawn chair they were sharing by the time Cat finished talking about her role as the older sister of the main character on a kids show - although Cat was in her early twenties, she could still pass for fifteen or sixteen, so she had a wide range of opportunities within reach. She seemed to be enjoying her job, judging by the excited novel of personal anecdotes she laid out for the group.

At the end of Cat's speech, Tori tiredly explained how her last several months had been going. She couldn't help but complain about her annoying band and the label's manipulative ways, though she avoided going anywhere near the subject of Jade. It didn't really matter anymore, she thought, now that they were together for real. There was no reason she'd ever have to tell anyone that the first couple months of their relationship hadn't been legitimate, nor did she have any reason to feel bad about lying about it anymore. Still, only part of that weight was lifted off her chest.

When the circle moved on to Jade, the rest of the group took the chance to make fun of her for her last role - they'd all seen the Nicolas Cage movie (or at least part of it), for her sake, and it'd been a laughable one. Jade's strange mood prevented her from getting defensive about it, and she only laid back in her chair, rolling her eyes as she twirled a lock of her lover's hair around her index finger with a smile. She didn't even mention the movie she'd just finished filming, but Tori didn't question it. Jade still refused to give away even part of the plot, whenever Tori asked about it, so she was relatively sure there was some sort of secrecy contract involved. Tori didn't really mind; any movie that was that heavily guarded would surely be great for Jade's career, and if that made her happy, she could handle Jade not trusting her enough to tell her. Then again, when she thought about it that way it was obvious that it _did _bother her.

Once everyone had run out of stories to tell, Andre made his way inside for some more snacks, and Tori got up to follow him. It had been so long since she'd spent any time with the rest of the group that she didn't know what to say to them.

"I didn't realize it's been so long since we've all seen each other." Andre looked up from the bag of chips he was opening into a large plastic bowl to nod in agreement.

"Didn't think my life was so boring until now." When Tori didn't respond, Andre attempted to spice up the party a little by retrieving the ingredients needed to mix some drinks.

"Do you feel awkward with Beck here?" He made an educated guess as to why Tori had been so quiet, and she nodded, though that wasn't the entire reason.

"A little bit. I guess I just... Things have changed so much since we graduated... We used to see each other every day, and now...I haven't seen Robbie in like, three months. I haven't seen Cat in almost six... Even you. You're my best friend and I hardly ever see you anymore."

"It doesn't have to be that way." Andre handed the drink he'd just mixed to Tori as he spoke. "I'm here whenever you need me."

"I _know_." With a smile, Tori leaned over to hug her best friend with her free arm. She felt better already.

"Things are good with Jade?" With a questioning glance, Andre started to mix himself a drink.

"Yes." She answered a little too soon, but realized it a little too late. Andre gave her a curious look

"Is she okay?" Glancing out the glass patio doors, they both took a good look at Jade, who was still lying in the same lawn chair, with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. She looked like she might have fallen asleep, but she kept nodding; she was conscious enough to pretend like she was listening to what Robbie was saying to her. The two of them were left alone outside, as Cat and Beck came inside just in time to hear the end of Tori and Andre's conversation.

"Yeah, she's just been acting kind of weird all day. She's probably just tired. Her neighbor keeps her up at night so she hasn't been sleeping m-"

"They had sex." Beck interrupted Tori's answer with a smile. He reached for the bag of chips and popped one in his mouth with a crunch, before Tori could even react.

"I-"

"I dated Jade for three years. I know that face. Plus, you're wearing her clothes." He patted Tori on the shoulder, grabbed the bag of chips, and left through the door he'd just come in. Andre awkwardly excused himself from the kitchen and disappeared down the hall, while Tori's face burned red. Cat stood beside her, obviously having some difficulty trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"So..." Tori downed half of her drink in one gulp, as Cat lowered her voice to a whisper.

"...You've seen each other naked?"

"Well, Cat, we are dating..."

"Gross." She shook her head with a smile, giggling as she made her way outside without doing whatever it was she'd initially come inside for. Tori found herself standing alone in the kitchen, her face burning with embarrassment. It wasn't like Beck had outed them - everyone thought they'd been together much longer than they actually had - but the fact that he was right brought some warmth to the flustered girl's cheeks.

When Andre didn't return right away, Tori wandered back outside to join the others, sans eye contact. She wiggled her way back into the space Jade had left for her on the lawn chair, and immediately found herself watching the pale woman's face. She was staring off into space, her facial features relaxed. Her eyes shown, a bluer shade than most days, but she didn't seem to be present behind them. Tori nudged her, but it had no effect.

"Jade," She whispered in the distracted actress' ear, "are you okay?"

"Yeah." Jade's answer was accompanied by a deep and unconvincing sigh, but she recognized that right away, and buried her face in Tori's hair before the concerned one questioned it anymore.

"I'm just tired. When are we leaving?"

"We haven't even been here two hours yet." Tori answered, confused. She'd thought that Jade would be more excited to see her friends, but instead the girl was just lying there in near silence, barely even present at all. There was definitely something more to it than whatever Beck had been suggesting, but Tori wasn't sure what. She didn't wait for another answer, however, and started thinking of a reason to leave.

For another half hour, they all sat on Andre's tiny patio and made awkward small talk while nursing the drinks that their host - who could have easily been a bartender in another life - had mixed for them. Within minutes of being handed hers, Jade had mindlessly downed her entire drink without a word.

"You guys," Tori finally decided that they'd stayed long enough, "Jade's not feeling very well and I'm still kind of exhausted from my trip, so we're gonna go." The entire group gave Tori the same look of humorous disbelief, but she brushed it off and helped her girlfriend up from the chair. After saying her goodbyes and telling everyone to "keep in touch," the duo left, knowing perfectly well that most of them probably _wouldn't _keep in touch, unfortunately.

Once they were back on the interstate, Tori contemplated asking Jade once again what was wrong, but she knew she probably wouldn't tell her. She held it off for a while, deciding silently that they were both going to her apartment for the night. Jade stared out the window and seemed lucid enough to realize where they were going, so Tori took her lack of complaints as a sign of approval.

"Jade, are you mad at me?" The car went another half a mile before anyone said another word.

"No." Tori wasn't sure what to say next. She didn't want to repeat what she'd asked earlier, because she knew that Jade hated that, but she wasn't sure how else to get it out of her.

"Tori-" Jade's voice cut through the silence once again. "You love me, right?"

"Of course I do," She took a hand off the steering wheel and reached over to set it on Jade's thigh. "You don't ever have to ask me. The answer's always yes." The distracted passenger simply nodded, accepting Tori's response in even more troubling silence.

The next morning, Tori woke up in an empty bed, though she'd fallen asleep in a full but uncomfortably silent one. Jade had an audition that morning, but Tori had hoped to wake up early enough to wish her girlfriend good luck. Instead, she texted her a handful of encouraging messages to make her feel better after the audition; Jade tended to assume the worst when it came to her career, and with the weird mood she'd been in since the night before it was given that she'd need cheering up.

After dressing and eating a small breakfast, Tori took a trip to the store to refill her cupboards. The bad thing about Jade being so comfortable around her was that she had no problem coming over to eat her food - whether Tori was there or not.

Just after eleven, the songstress entered her usual grocery store and started making her way down the aisles, where she found herself reading the backs of every box as if it held some sort of advice. Nothing sounded very appetizing but she threw anything into the cart that sounded like something Jade would eat.

In the back of the store, Tori stood in front of the meat, trying to remember if she had any ground beef at home or not. She looked up from the wall of red in front of her, just in time to catch the eye of a woman she'd noticed following her through the store. Something about her seemed incredibly familiar, but Tori couldn't figure out what it was until the mystery woman approached her.

"You're Tori Vega?" She asked in a rather assured tone of voice, like the question was unnecessary.

"Yes, I am..." Almost positive that she knew this woman somehow, Tori opened her mouth to ask her who she was, only to be interrupted.

"Kathryn West." She declared with no facial expression whatsoever. "You're sleeping with my daughter." Tori's heart fell into her stomach when she realized why her company seemed so familiar. Jade had her lips. Her eye color. Her jawline. Her ability to instill fear in a person with just one look.

"I-I-We just-" Before she could even try to explain, Mrs. West waved her hand in front of Tori's face, cutting her off once again.

"I don't want to hear about the depraved things you let her do to you." The singer's throat constricted. She could feel her heart pumping faster. "I just want you to know that if you hurt her, you'll be sorry. Jade's suffered enough pain in her life already. She may be somewhat of a _bitch_, but she doesn't deserve any more of it."

"I know, and I swear, that's the _farthest _thing from my intentions."

"Good." A smile broke out on the older West's face, though it was still terrifying. "She doesn't need to know about this conversation, right?"

"N-no." With a nod, Jade's estranged mother turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Tori standing in front of a wall of beef with her heart pumping in her head.

Had she just been _threatened _by _Jade's mother?_ She'd never even met the woman before, and she hadn't expected to do it anytime soon. From the way Jade danced around the subject, it seemed as if she hadn't seen either of her parents in a _very_ long time. With everything she knew about Jade's mom - and especially her dad - they didn't really seem like the type of people that Tori was very interested in meeting anyway. They'd raised Jade, after all. Tori was almost one hundred percent sure that their parenting was the reason why their daughter had had such an unhappy childhood. Tori didn't know what exactly they'd done - and she wasn't about to ask Jade - but it had to be their fault. Because of them, she'd grown so used to the way things were that she didn't know how to function when she was actually happy. It takes a lot of work to ruin _happiness _for someone.

Eventually Tori got back to shopping and returned home, still shook up from her encounter with her girlfriend's mother. There was no point in telling Jade about it, she decided. She had a poor enough opinion of her mother already, and the intimidating woman's words meant nothing to Tori anyway. She didn't want to get Jade worked up over a stupid confrontation at the grocery store.

Once everything was put away back home, Tori decided it was a good day to take care of her adult duties, so she gathered her laundry and took it down to the laundry room on the first floor. Rather than stay and wait an hour for it to finish, Tori decided she trusted her neighbors enough to abandon it and go back upstairs. She had a lot of cleaning to do, but any thought of responsibility moved to the very back of her brain when she opened the door and saw a familiar dark-haired beauty lounging peacefully on her couch.

"How'd it go?" Tori asked, questioning the results of Jade's audition in a cautious tone of voice.

"Really well." Her answer was somewhat surprising, given her mood the night before. "I got the part."

"You did?! Great!" Now that it was safe, Tori rushed across the room and collapsed in Jade's lap, happily wrapping her arms around her. "What part is this?" The currently upbeat actress rolled her eyes and pressed her lips to Tori's neck before she answered.

"Next season, I will be dying on CSI."

"That's awesome. I love CSI!" Jade seemed confused by Tori's excitement, but she smiled anyway. "And I love you, so that's twice as awesome. I don't really love you dying...but I can get over that."

"Oh really?" Jade arched an eyebrow as her arms loosened from around Tori's waist. "You'll get over my death that easily?"

"Only if you come home afterwards." Tori answered anxiously, as she wasn't sure how Jade had taken that comment. "Naked."

"Hmmm... Isn't it kind of considered necrophilia if me dying on TV turns you on?" Now that Jade's good mood was cemented in place, Tori wasn't nearly as careful. She pushed Jade backwards on the couch and crawled on top of her.

"You _dying _doesn't turn me on. You _naked _turns me on." Without waiting for a response, Tori dove in, attaching her lips to Jade's without another thought. Jade kissed her back just as hard, sliding her hands down Tori's spine until they hooked onto the back of her thighs. When she turned her head to the side, the talented artist's lips simply moved to her neck, and then her collarbone.

"Well then it's too bad I'm keeping my clothes on tonight." Without any hesitation, Tori quickly responded,

"That's okay. I can just imagine it."

Jade's right hand slipped down onto Tori's inner thigh, and though Tori flinched at the feeling of it, she continued using her powerful mouth on the girl she loved. With every thought of the encounter with Jade's mother - and also of her laundry downstairs - pushed away, Tori slipped her tongue into Jade's mouth with no resistance at all. Although she'd refused to take things any further, Jade didn't let that stop her from teasing the girl a little. One hand slipped up the back of Tori's shirt and unclasped her bra in one fluid motion; the other pressed against the seam of her jeans, eliciting a rather desperate moan from the tanned musician - a moan that was cut short when Jade rolled her off the couch, onto the floor, and came down on top of her. Tori was far too distracted to feel any pain, though, as Jade pulled her own floral patterned green shirt over her head.

"I love you." Tori confessed as she was met with another kiss.

"I know you do."


	24. Chapter 24

_**Sorry once again. I lay the blame on the holidays, my birthday, and my health this time. I hope your holidays were wonderful and I thank you for sticking with me even though I really suck at this. **_

Jade had a hard time accepting that anyone could really love her. It didn't matter how many times they said it. She knew it was stupid to feel that way. She knew that when Tori said it, she meant it, but she also knew from experience that everyone who said it would eventually stop saying it. Beck had loved her once or twice. Her parents had loved her too.

Love is accepting people as they are. Love is appreciating all the little things, reveling in the bad moments as well as the good. Love was knowing every little piece of somebody and adoring it all - even the parts they themselves hated. Love was also temporary. Love was a thing that people stopped doing all the time. Love was a thing that people kept saying after they quit meaning it. Love was a thing they eventually stopped saying too.

"Jade?" It hurt to think that one day, the sound of Tori saying her name might cease to send shivers up her spine. "You've been quiet for a while."

"Sorry." Jade mumbled, letting her hand feel around blindly for Tori's as she continued to lie on the living room floor with her eyes shut.

"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" A slight smile molded Jade's lips, and Tori leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, the suggestive look on her face slowly fading already. "You don't have to tell me what's been bothering you but I'll listen if you want."

"Just a weird couple of days." Jade mumbled, lacing her fingers between her anxious companion's. Her eyes travelled along the curve of Tori's hip, and all the way down to her purple painted toes.

"You were fine until we went to Andre's yesterday." Tori snuggled against her, pressing her warm cheek to Jade's chest as she slid an arm over her side. Brown eyes closed, Tori held her lover close, and she knew that she would be perfectly content to stay like that all day, if only Jade wasn't so unhappy.

"It doesn't matter!" Jade snapped, even surprising herself with her sudden mood swing. "I'm over it." Tori let it slide for the time being. Jade was only going to talk about it when she wanted to. There was no way to convince her otherwise, and as sad as it was, that was something Tori loved about Jade.

The room fell silent as Tori's fingers grazed over Jade's skin, connecting her freckles, tracing her muscles. Her fingertips paused on a line of pure white, slightly raised skin along the inside of Jade's elbow; something that had gone unnoticed until now.

"My cousin knocked me through the window in my grandparents' pool house when I was twelve." Jade explained calmly. "It didn't hurt much, but I ended up with a shard of glass about two inches wide sticking out of my elbow. I had to get ten stitches." Jade's happier tone of voice encouraged Tori to share a story of her own, as morbid of a topic as it was.

"Trina had this _huge_ Barbie doll collection when we were little. She absolutely refused to share her dolls with me, and when I was six we got in a big fight over them, so she threw her prized Barbie convertible at my head." Tori sat up and reached for the top of her head, feeling around for a moment until she parted her hair and tilted her head down to show Jade the small, jagged scar hidden a few inches from her hairline.

"You got hit with a Barbie car?" Jade could barely contain her laughter, and Tori found herself smiling about it as well as she laid back down in her lover's arms.

"Yeah, I know. It's lame. It wasn't even a deep cut, but it bled a lot. I almost became an only child when I told my mom what happened. She was _so _mad. Trina didn't get to leave her room for almost twenty-four hours."

"Harsh." Jade's eyes fluttered shut for a moment as she lost the energy to keep the conversation going.

"Mom was really protective of me. She cared a lot more back then." The memory of her laundry, finished hours ago, popped up in Tori's mind, and she didn't even notice Jade's reaction to her unusually dejected tone of voice.

"..._I_ care about you." The actress played it cool once Tori made eye contact again, but her lips twitched when Tori's fingers intertwined with hers once again.

"You don't say it much."

"They're words." Jade became surprisingly offended by Tori's accusation. "Words mean nothing. Anyone can say them and anyone can take them back." In contrast to her defensiveness, Jade leaned to kiss her crestfallen partner on the forehead before she could take it the wrong way. "I love you" Jade spoke quietly but somehow Tori knew that she meant it, "but I'd rather tell you in other ways."

"Okay." Finally untangling herself from Jade, Tori started to get up without another word on the subject. "I have to go get my laundry. You'll still be here when I get back, right?" Flat on her back, the burnt out thespian spread her arms across the floor and mumbled an answer while Tori pulled her clothes back on.

"I'm gonna sleep here. Until next month."

"Just try not to take up too much space. I might need my living room sometime in the next thirty days."

"No you won't." Jade sleepily mumbled a response through a smile, eyes closed. "I'm the only person that ever visits you, you loser."

Tori rolled her eyes at the truth Jade told and moved to the kitchen counter, where her keys were. She quietly left the apartment, locking the door behind her, and took the elevator down to the ground floor laundry room. Taking her time, Tori moved some of her clothes to a dryer, while she carefully folded the things that needed to air dry and placed them in her laundry basket, along with the detergent and fabric softener she'd brought down with her earlier.

Without seeing a single person, Tori returned to her fourth floor apartment and unlocked the door. An amused smile crossed her face when she walked in and spotted Jade, still lying on the living room carpet, fast asleep. Jade didn't move a muscle when Tori set her laundry down on the couch to cover the actress' half-naked body with a dark blue blanket, and she was still there when Tori came back out half an hour later after hanging her things on the rack in her room and ultimately deciding to clear out and give up one of the drawers in her dresser.

...

Tori spent the next week with James, rather than Jade. He was trying to work out her schedule for the next few months and insisted he needed her around for that. Tori didn't buy it, but she figured a little separation was good for the relationship. Jade was still active in her life, of course. They texted each other every day, arguing about trivial things and joking about the rest. Jade spent the night twice, but both times she was already asleep when Tori returned home, and soon after she woke each morning she came up with reasons to leave - valid reasons, but disappointing nonetheless.

Tori had been in bed by herself for two hours one late Thursday night when her bedroom door creaked open, and the sound of it hitting her laundry basket woke her. Jade stood in the doorway, with the light from the full moon outside illuminating the hall behind her. She was a mess in her mismatched pajamas and tattered silk robe, and she didn't say a word or move an inch for several seconds.

"I hate my parents." She finally mumbled, near tears. "I _hate_ them." Tori finally sat up in bed, sleepily realizing that Jade hadn't come over because she was lonely or horny. Before Tori could ask about the actual reason, it came out.

"My grandpa died. _Two months ago_." She finally burst into tears, and Tori pulled down the blankets on the other half of her bed, inviting Jade to join her. "He was the only real parent I ever had and they didn't tell me! Nobody _told_ me!" She collapsed onto the mattress beside Tori and immediately curled up against her, sobbing into her shirt. At a loss for words, Tori only wrapped her arms around her distraught girlfriend and began stroking the back of her head in an attempt to comfort her.

"I'm sorry," Jade mumbled into Tori's collarbone as she continued crying, "I know it's a stupid thing to be so upset about." She stopped to take a deep breath, but it didn't help her any and she continued to hyperventilate into the rose-colored fabric of Tori's pajama top.

"Oh, honey it's not." Tori cooed, trying to comfort Jade in a way that she knew Jade hated. She wasn't sure what else to do though, and meaningless words kept coming out in the most soothing voice she could muster as she rubbed her crying girlfriend's back. "You just cry all you want. It's okay, baby."

Now, Jade started crying even harder, and her whole body shook against Tori with each sob. It wasn't just her grandpa that she was crying over, and Tori knew that. It took a lot to get Jade to cry, but when she did, she cried over everything she should've mourned long before then. She had no healthy way to deal with stress, and so it all built up and came out at once. A sick part of Tori loved moments like this, even if they required Jade's misery. It was still nice to be that person for someone who let so few people see this side of her.

"I'm so sorry baby, I'm so sorry." She hummed her apologies, lips pressed to the top of her lover's head while the girl continued to cry.

"Why do my parents hate me?" Jade's voice sounded like it belonged to a child. It broke the singer's heart to see her girlfriend so upset. Tori didn't have the best relationship with her own parents, but _never_ had she felt like they hated her, and she could only imagine how much that hurt.

"They don't, baby. They don't hate you." She didn't voice any proof of her statement, and Jade didn't ask for it. They lay in silence for a while, neither of them near sleep.

Even after their conversation the previous week about the meaningless words, Tori knew that Jade liked to hear them, and so she brushed Jade's hair back with the tip of her thumb and whispered into her ear.

"I love you so much. You know that?"

"Of course I do." Despite her annoyed tone of voice, Jade smiled into Tori's chest. "You say it enough." Tori only smiled, massaging the distressed actress' back as she tried hopelessly to comfort her.

"Jade?" Tori got a slight humming sound in response. "What was he like? Your grandpa?" It could turn out to be a bad idea to ask. Tori knew it might blow up in her face, but she knew from experience that sometimes talking about it helped. Smiling through the tears at the good memories made loss bearable, at least temporarily.

"He...Ummm... My parents...they both worked a lot. He was a carpenter so he was basically his own boss. He'd bring me with him to job sites...which probably wasn't a very good idea, actually. I was just a kid." She sighed, and Tori felt Jade's warm breath on the exposed skin of her neck.

"He'd just give me this hammer he always carried with him on the job, and he'd leave me to just hit stuff with it while he worked. I smashed my fingers a few times, but it was entertaining, I guess. And when he wasn't working, he had this awesome sailboat. He'd take me and some of my cousins out on it almost every weekend. He said he'd teach me how to sail when I was old enough, but he never did." Her voice faded out for a moment and Tori thought she might have fallen asleep. She didn't, though. She kept talking about her grandpa, and how she'd unofficially lived with him through her parents' divorce. How it took them so long to finalize it because they couldn't stop fighting over who got custody of her. How she thought they didn't even care about her, they just wanted to win another fight against the other. She started crying again when she spoke about his retirement and subsequent move to Kentucky, and she was right back to where she'd started when she mentioned how, anymore, she only ever heard from him on major holidays. Once again, Jade sobbed into Tori's wrinkled pajama top until they made an agreement to pretend the night had never happened, and slowly, painfully, they fell asleep.

Neither half of the duo had moved an inch all night. Tori awoke the next morning, still clutching Jade to her chest, her lips pressed to the girl's hairline. She held that position for as long as she possibly could, in content silence, until Jade's eyes fluttered open and the dark room came back to life.

"Hey." She mumbled a perfunctory greeting with a still tired, raspy voice, but Jade seemed a great deal happier than she had when she'd fallen asleep the night before.

"Good morning." Tori kissed her girlfriend's forehead while she still had the chance, but the lethargic actress wrinkled her nose and pulled out of her grasp soon after.

"Sorry about last night..." She sat up in bed with a half-sincere apology, avoiding eye contact. "I just...this is why I don't talk about my parents. I get so upset, and I- It's easier if I try not to think about them. It works for them, I guess."

"That's not true." Tori got a curious look in response, instead of the eye roll she'd expected. Suddenly feeling guilty, she spilled the story of her first encounter with her girlfriend's mother, watching the lines in the girl's face as she spoke. Jade's eyes narrowed, brows came together, the pink of her lips faded into a white color as she pressed them together.

"You shouldn't have kept that from me," Jade spat, ripping Tori's pillow out from beneath her shoulders. "I hate secrets. I _don't do_ secrets."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." Tori issued an instantaneous apology and tugged gently on the corner of the pillow, though she didn't expect to get it back. "I didn't think it really mattered. I didn't want to upset you over something that really wasn't that big of a deal."

"My mother _threatened you! _That _is_ a big deal!"

"It _really _isn't. You're a _lot_ scarier than she is." Nothing she said was helping her any, so Tori gave up, knowing Jade would get over it eventually, as she always did. She didn't, though - this time Jade simply climbed out of Tori's bed and left the room with a blank expression on her face. A shocked Tori stumbled out of bed and went after her, finding the girl paused at the door, with her hand on the handle.

"I need a break."

"What?" Tori panicked, and she started spewing words as her agitated girlfriend turned to face her. "Are you breaking up with me? Jade, what the hell? I didn't mean anything by i-"

"Not _that _kind of break. I just need a few days...on my own. I can't...I like being with you, I do, but this...is not me, and you know that. I can't do this whole...domestication thing with you 24/7. I need some time to just...do things for me." Confused and still hurt, Tori took a deep breathe as Jade's words sunk in. She still wasn't sure what they really meant. It wasn't clear whose fault this was, or if anyone was at fault at all.

"I'm not trying to make you be someone you're not." Tori assured her anxious lover, earning her an eye roll coupled with a slight hint of a smile.

"I know. I'll call you...I just need some time to myself." With that, Jade left the apartment, and the knowledge that Tori was back inside, blaming herself for something that really had very little to do with her gave Jade a feeling she hadn't felt in a very long time. She felt more like herself than she had in a long time, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

That night, Jade found herself sitting alone at the bar in a place near her own apartment, fingers wrapped tightly around her glass as she took in the sights and sounds of everyone around her. She felt relaxed already. Not alone in the bigger sense, but in the smaller she finally had some time to herself. Her phone was in the glove compartment of her car, and she didn't know a single person inside the place. Something about her facial expression had even deterred the bartender from making conversation. It stayed that way, for a while, and she liked it.

"You don't look much like a beer girl." Jade's break from the world was interrupted by a brown-haired man who slid over to the bar stool beside her. He was relatively attractive, probably about the same age. He seemed nice enough, in contrast to the guys who usually hit on her in places like this.

"I'm not, really. This is apple juice." A curious expression appeared on the intruders face, but he seemed amused by it.

"What are you doing in a bar, drinking apple juice?" With a sigh, Jade gave in and decided that it wasn't worth it to fend off a conversation with the guy. Things could be much worse, after all.

"I didn't really feel like drinking, but sitting in a dark room full of drunk people gives me a false sense of superiority and I really needed that tonight." He smiled, and a strand of messy dark brown hair freed itself from behind his ear.

"Ian Barnes." Jade's new friend held out a hand for her to shake, but she only stared at him. "Can I buy you a _real_ drink?" He asked anyway.

"Jade West." She nodded toward the smartphone hanging out of the pocket of his gray jacket. "You should probably google my name before you offer that."

Ian raised an eyebrow in confusion, but did as she said while Jade stared at him uncomfortably. His eyes widened just enough for her to notice when the search results came up, but he didn't seem all that bothered that he was now out of the game.

"I see. Batting for the other team." He waved the bartender over as he spoke, and studied her face for a few seconds before he turned to the beefcake behind the counter. "How about a white russian for the lady?" The bartender only nodded and turned away, leaving Jade to stare at Ian with a degree of surprise on her face. He took a sip from the bottle of heineken he had his fingers wrapped around and smiled when Jade's drink was placed in front of her.

"It seems we have something in common," He said, holding up the green bottle as Jade picked up her glass. _"To women." _Jade raised her glass just to humor him and took a sip. Soon after, she found herself talking to him about her life - from her career to Tori and everything inbetween. She knew she probably wouldn't ever see the guy again - LA was a big place and Jade rarely ever associated with people she met in bars. Jade didn't really associate with anyone but Tori, really. She'd become rather antisocial after high school, and she told Ian that too. Halfway through her second drink, she'd spilled every feeling she'd had over the past few weeks to a man she only knew two things about - his first name and his last name. It felt good, though, to get it off her chest, to talk to someone who didn't know her, who didn't know Tori. Someone who probably didn't even care. Just talking to a person who didn't know enough to judge her took a huge weight off her shoulders. It was like free therapy, only he'd had enough beers that he probably wouldn't remember much of anything she said, and he wasn't giving her very good advice.

It was all her, she knew that. She realized it even more as she spoke to this stranger at the bar. She was the whole reason why she was having such a hard time lately. As much as she'd like to blame all the people who had made her that way, for once Jade avoided that. She could trace her problems back through the years if she wanted, but it was her own fault that she hadn't changed things. She didn't know how to be in a relationship with a person like Tori. Someone who told her they loved her without being asked. Someone who laughed at her stories, no matter how strange they were. Someone who let Jade read their text messages when they caught the curious look on her face. Someone who accepted that she was the way she was. Someone who knew that every little imperfection was what made Jade _Jade_. The _problem_ was that life was beyond unfair, and Jade didn't quite know how to love Tori in the same way that Tori loved her.


	25. Chapter 25

_**Sorry this chapter's so short. (For me, anyway). From now on they probably won't be much longer than this. **_

_**Also thank you to whoever nominated this story for the Topaz Awards... I'm still kind of amazed that you all like this so much. **_

_**I hope you enjoy this chapter. **_

A distressed Tori lay on her old blue couch, with her head on her best friend's lap and his wrist in her hands. She played with his watch while he vented about his life and listened to her do the same. The TV was playing in the background - some sci-fi movie from the '90s - but the apartment seemed miserably quiet and empty.

Andre finished a long, drawn-out complaint about his work with a sigh, and moved on to a story about his personal life. Tori was hardly listening to him, but she was glad he'd come over. Something about spending her evenings alone in her apartment gave her a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach, and having a visitor took the weight off for a while.

"You remember Lilli, right?"

"Uhhh..." The name sounded familiar, but a buzzing noise continued to escape from Tori's lips as she tried unsuccessfully to place it with a face.

"I dated her a couple months ago. I think you met her..." Leaning over as far as he could without disturbing his tired best friend, Andre retrieved his drink from the coffee table and raised it to his lips.

"I might have. She sounds familiar... I've been really busy the last few months though."

"Well anyway, I think we're getting back together." He sounded happy when he spoke, and suddenly Tori remembered him talking about his girlfriend Lilli the last time they'd spent any time together alone. It sure felt like it'd been longer than a couple months though.

"That's great, Andre. I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, she called me up a couple weeks ago. Thought she was pregnant - she's _not, _thank god, but I went to the doctor with her, and we had dinner together after, and we've been texting a lot lately... I think it might work this time."

"Good." Tori laughed, tearing her eyes away from the large silver watch on Andre's wrist. "It's about time you had a long-term girlfriend." Andre only rolled his eyes and smiled, but it was a genuine smile, and Tori could tell he really liked this girl - in a different kind of way than usual.

"I'll have to bring her over sometime. I think you'd really like her. She's a lot like you, actually."

"Yeah," Tori answered emotionlessly. "I'd really like that."

"...Speaking of long-term girlfriends..." Andre's eyes dipped down to Tori's, and she uncomfortably looked away before she sat up and avoided speaking by grasping her own glass and pressing it to her lips.

"I don't know." She mumbled into the half-empty glass. After a couple of quiet sips, she fed him a little more information about her current predicament. "She's just been..._Jade_. You know how she is. Always unpredictable. She just can't let herself be happy for very long. She'll come back."

"...Do you want her to?"

"_Yes!" _Tori found herself hissing at Andre before she even fully consumed the question.

"Yes, of course I do.I love her, Andre. I really do. I love her _so much,_ and...I don't know _why_, but I _do_, and I just want her to be happy, but with Jade, that's difficult. She doesn't really..._like _being happy, in the same way that you or I do... She's different, but I like that. I don't want her to change, but I think...I think _she thinks _that I do."

"She's a difficult one, that's for sure." Andre didn't know what to say, but Tori didn't mind. Just having someone around to talk to who knew exactly what she meant was nice.

"She is..." They were both silent for a few minutes, mindlessly taking in the movie in front of them. A giant mutant octopus was ravaging some giant metropolis, scooping people up by the dozens and squeezing them to death with its giant, slimy tentacles. Tori and Andre watched in silence as the octopus picked up a particularly annoying character who had been whining throughout the entire movie and squeezed her so hard that her head popped off, sending blood and guts spurting through the air. Tori cringed and averted her attention to her wineglass and the last few drops of cheap pinot grigio inside.

"She'd love this movie." Tori decided, before she took that one last sip.

Across town, Jade pressed the ancient earpiece of a grubby old phone to her ear, punching in a phone number she only just barely remembered. Cell phones had done terrible things to the internal phonebook, she thought. The phone rang a couple of times with no answer, and Jade stared at her reflection in the metal face of the phone, repulsed by the look of herself. She crossed her fingers so hard she started to lose feeling in her whole hand, and then the ringing stopped.

"Hello?" A giant breath escaped Jade's lips before she could even speak.

"Tori..." Jade was overcome with relief, but her voice barely came out at an audible volume, and Tori didn't hear her.

"Hello?" She asked again. This time Jade spoke up a little louder.

"Tori, I...I need you to come get me."

"Jade?" Tori's tangled, tired voice straightened out and she suddenly sounded concerned. "Jade, what's wrong? Where are you?"

"Look, I ummm...I kind of did something I shouldn't have, and I need you to come to the police station and bail me out."

"The _police station?_" She was mad now. It almost felt good, in a way. Jade rather liked angry Tori. It was nice to see a variety of emotions in the usually happy girl."Jade! What the hell? What's going on with you lately?!"

"Just get me out of here! I only have like twenty seconds left of this call, I don't have time to tell you the whole story."

"Ughhhh...fine. I'll be there in an hour. You have a _lot_ of explaining to do."

"Fine, _mom_. I'll tell you everything once you get me out of here. There's a drunk old guy in the holding cell who keeps hitting on me though, so _please _hurry." There was a click, and then the dial tone. Jade set the phone back on the receiver and took a deep breath, before the displeased police officer to her right cleared his throat and promptly escorted her back to the holding cell, empty except for the elderly drunk, still as a statue on the bench across from the cell door. She was forced back inside, to the sound of clanging metal as the door closed behind her. She sat down as far away from her temporary cellmate as she could, but that didn't stop him from talking to her.

"You remind me of my ex-wife." The man said, unaware that he'd already said the same thing to her three times since she'd been in the cell with him. Jade stared longingly at the empty cell beside her, wishing she was inside of it instead. She'd questioned the officer who'd arrested her about why she was being placed in a cell with a man, but he'd only grunted something about a broken lock and shoved her inside without a real answer.

"She was a bitch too." The drunk hissed at her when she didn't respond. Finally giving the troubled actress some peace, he laid down on the bench to sleep off his bender.

Jade closed her eyes and rested her head against the metal bars behind her, silently counting each second that went by. Two thousand, eight hundred and forty-seven seconds later, a door opened and a different, unfamiliar officer entered the room to unlock the cell door. He didn't say anything, just nodded at Jade as he let her out. The heavy-set blond locked the door behind her and escorted her back to the real world, where Tori was waiting, standing in the center of the room with all her weight on her right foot, her arms crossed over her chest, and an unhappy look on her face. Jade recognized the loose black sweater she was wearing with an old pair of jeans as one that she herself had left at Tori's apartment the last time she'd spent the night. It was a good color on the infuriated songstress, she thought.

"You're free to go." The sandy-haired officer mumbled, surprising Jade, who thought she'd be stuck in the station a little while longer. She was almost nervous to leave and be alone with Tori for the first time in over a week, but she silently left the building at her girlfriend's side.

"I, umm...how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing." Tori muttered grumpily, without an explanation.

"Look, I can p-"

"You don't owe me anything. They let you out because they know my dad, and I talked them out of charging you."

"Oh...thanks." Jade apprehensively climbed into the passenger's seat of Tori's car, waiting in silence for her to start the engine.

"They said you nailed a _cat_ to your neighbor's door. What the hell were you thinking?"

"Okay, first of all," The ex-inmate passionately started to defend herself, while Tori tried to keep a smile off her face. She wasn't actually mad - she'd actually been more happy than anything to hear Jade's voice, even under such circumstances. No matter what Jade had done to her neighbor, Tori was sure she'd deserved it. She'd had the misfortune to meet the woman - she had the _nerve _to come banging on Jade's door at 3 PM on a Saturday, complaining of the loud TV. Late that same night, Tori was sure she could have cooked a Thanksgiving turkey with the heat radiating from Jade's skin as the irritating sound of the hypocrite next door's excrutiatingly loud love-making kept her awake. Tori thought a little punishment was in order though, so she put on the most displeased expression she could manage and tried to make Jade squirm a little.

"It was not a _cat, _it was a _raccoon, _it was already dead, and I left it on her doorstep, not nailed to her door. She overreacted and called the police, but _what's really a crime_ is how she keeps me up every night faking orgasms with her collection of boyfriends"

"...You really think she's faking?"

"Of course she is. You've heard it." Tori was quiet for a moment as she drove down the empty interstate, wondering how exactly Jade could be sure.

"...I don't know how to tell."

"You've never faked it before?" Jade smiled at the driver in disbelief, watching her uncomfortably avoid making eye contact while she drove.

"No...I usually just..._don't..._" The only sound for a few seconds was that of the car racing down the road in solitude at 4AM. "...You have?" Jade only nodded, watching in amusement when Tori's face dropped as she stared out the windshield.

"Not with _you_." With a laugh, Jade repaired Tori's temporarily damaged self-esteem. "No, if you weren't doing your job, you'd know it. I just...when I was younger, I used to have to do it with Beck, or else he'd be all pissy about his bruised ego for _days. _He was such a little girl sometimes." Silence again, as Tori tried not to picture her girlfriend in bed with someone else. "He got better though, so I only had to do it a few times." Jade mumbled something that didn't make Tori feel any better, but she soon changed the subject.

"I'm just getting _really sick _of that stupid bitch. She's such a hypocrite."

"Her behavior doesn't give you the right to leave dead animals on her doorstep. _You _should've called the police on _her_. She's disturbing the peace,isn't she? Just please stay out of trouble. _Ignore her._"

"Easy for you to say." Jade muttered under her breath, as Tori finally found her exit. Neither of them said another word for the rest of the drive to Tori's apartment, and they figured it was better that way. Time passed in silence for another ten minutes until Tori parked her car and led the way upstairs, struggling to fit her key in the lock at first. Once inside, she threw her purse on the kitchen counter and immediately stripped out of her jeans, leaving them on the tile floor.

"The bathroom sink's broken and the plummer won't be here 'til Monday so you'll have to use the kitchen." Tori sleepily instructed her girlfriend as she tossed the girl's worn black sweater at her and made her way back to bed. She lay there for a few minutes by herself, with nothing but the sound of her ceiling fan whirring overhead. Tori tried to fall back asleep, but it didn't happen, and the longer she lay with her eyes shut, the more awake she became. Finally, after what felt like hours, but in reality had only been thirty minutes, Jade slipped beneath the sheets beside her. Her smooth bare leg brushed against Tori's, and the singer couldn't help but extend a hand to touch her. Jade's skin felt soft and cold beneath Tori's fingers as she slowly glided a hand over her girlfriend's stomach, getting no kind of response. Jade's foot touched hers for a moment, and finally Tori couldn't help herself. She threw back the sheets and crawled on top of the troubled actress she'd missed so much.

"I love you."

"I know you do."

"But I'm still pissed at you." Tori reminded Jade before she kissed her for the first time in a week. Jade smiled into the darkness at Tori's crabby forgiveness.

"I know you are."

"Make it up to me."


	26. Chapter 26

_**Hello again. I want to thank all of you who voted for me for the Topaz Awards... With as many jori fics as we've got out there, it's a huge honor that this one was voted the year's best, especially considering how infrequent my updating is...**_

_**I apologize for any typos you may come across in this... I tend to make those a lot, and I usually update this fic late at night, when I'm too tired to notice them while proofreading. I really need to work on my little system here... **_

_**Thanks again for your support. It's been almost a year since I published this, and I'm really appreciative for those of you who are still sticking with me, especially now that the show's over. :( You guys are great.**_

It was a gloomy Sunday and Tori felt no desire whatsoever to get out of bed. She only had one window in her bedroom, on the wall parallel to the next building over, so it was always relatively dark in her room, but she just had that feeling from the moment that she opened her eyes that it was a day perfect for doing absolutely nothing. She wanted to lounge around with no sense of responsibility, like she was a teenager again.

Next to her in the purple-covered bed, Jade slept soundly, with a peaceful hint of a smile on her face. It had been over a week since Tori'd last seen Jade, and technically they'd made up the night before, but all of the issues that had led to Jade leaving in the first place hung in Tori's face, interrupting her relaxation. She snuggled up against Jade as tightly as she could and pressed her face into the girl's black hair, breathing in the the scent of herself and the jail cell that the actress had spent part of her night in. She clearly needed a shower, but the smell of Jade's hair was oddly comforting to Tori. She seemed so human. Fragile, in a way, but at the same time strong, as if she'd been dropped in the mud and wrung out over and over again, only to hold her form through it all.

Tori knew that Jade was having a hard time with adulthood. She'd spent her entire adolescence in a permanent state of immaturity, but now that she was an adult, that got her nowhere. She had no family, few friends, and she was building a career that took a lot of time and hard work. Jade had Tori, and that was it. It got to her sometimes, realizing how much she'd lost once she'd reached the age where she was expected to take responsibility for herself. Tori could only sympathize with her. It was something she needed to deal with on her own, and she would. She'd get there eventually.

So engrossed in her thoughts and the smell of Jade, Tori hadn't realized that her girlfriend was awake until she'd turned on her side to face the distracted singer. She stared, for a moment, and Tori did the same thing, until she couldn't bear the silence anymore.

"I had a dream about you last night."

"Did you?" Jade's voice came out a little raspy, chainsmoker-esque, like it always did in the mornings.

"It wasn't _that_ kind of dream, really... We were, umm... You were really mad at me, actually. We were having a babyand you wanted to name it Dracula, and I wouldn't let you."

"Dracula? I could come up with much better ways to get my kid bullied in school."

"Ah, there's your maternal side." Tori joked, touching her lips to Jade's shoulder. She ran a finger along her girlfriend's collarbone, without another word for a couple of minutes.

"...Which one of us carried it?"

"Hmm?" Already, Tori had forgotten what they'd been talking about. She was too wrapped up in the feeling of Jade's body against hers, Jade's fingers subconsciously massaging her ribcage.

"The baby. In your dream."

"Oh. You did."

"Me and my child-bearing hips."

"Shut up. You're perfect." Jade only rolled her eyes and refrained from making a sarcastic comment. She shifted onto her back and lay there in silence for a while, as Tori struggled over the decision whether or not to say something that had been on her mind for the last few weeks.

"Jade?"

"Mhmm?"

"I want you to move in with me." Silence. Jade didn't move a muscle, and Tori could feel her heart fluttering in her chest. A vein was pulsing in her forehead and she immediately regretted the decision to speak. What had come out of her mouth wasn't even the question she'd decided to ask.

"You...what?"

"I...just...think about it, okay? I know you're not happy where you are right now, and I just think...we could... Well, just consider it. You don't have to say yes." Tori's tone of voice had noticeably changed, and Jade could tell she'd taken her lack of a reaction poorly.

"Do you...think we could handle living together?"

"We practically already do. My landlord says if you keep staying over this much you're gonna have to put your name on my lease."

"I'll think about it." A sigh of relief passed through Tori's lips, but she still wasn't over it.

"...I had my first real interview on Thursday. You missed it. I'm gonna be featured on the music page of next week's edition of People." Tori tried to sound proud of herself but she was still hung up on the embarrassment of Jade's rejection.

"I'll be sure to buy a copy."

"I have another one for Us Weekly tomorrow afternoon, and I get to be the guest on Music at Midnight on Tuesday."

"Isn't that filmed in-" Jade started to question Tori, barely even getting half the question out, before Tori answered.

"New York? Yeah. I'm taking a 5 o'clock flight there tomorrow. I'm nervous. My first TV interview and it's on a live show..."

"Nobody watches it. You'll be fine." Jade sent a tiny smile in Tori's direction before she asked another question.

"I, umm...Is it a full flight?" Tori finally relaxed, the thoughts of her earlier question leaving her mind as she settled in next to her girlfriend.

"Why, you wanna go with me?"

"I don't want you to go _without me."_ The actress answered immediately. Tori started to laugh, and her companion couldn't quite figure out why.

"You don't trust me to go by myself, do you?" Jade didn't quite know how to respond, so she didn't say a word. She'd never had someone respond to her insecurity and trust issues in such a way before. "You have absolutely no reason to worry...but you can come if you want. I'll call James right now and have him get an extra ticket, if you want."

"...I do want." Once the words were out of her mouth, she watched her musically-inclined girlfriend push herself up out of the bed, on her way to make the call. Before she could leave the room, Jade stopped her.

"Tori...it's not that I don't trust you, I just..."

"I know. If you thought you had any reason not to trust me, you would've already interrogated me about what else I did this week. I could've done just about anything imaginable, and you'd never know because _you_ were gone."

"I'm _sorry_." The tanned girl's change of demeanor was surprising. Jade could hardly make eye contact as she apologized, and her face turned even more red because not an inch of Tori's toned body was covered, and now looking at the girl at all put a funny feeling in her stomach. She couldn't seem to tear her eyes away, and only watched as Tori hovered in the doorway.

"You don't have to apologize. That's exactly the kind of shit I knew I'd get with you. I told you when we started this, I've sorted my priorities and you're at the top of the list. I'll get past it." Immediately Jade's eyes dropped to the floor. A response escaped her, and she stayed silent for a while as she listened to Tori make a phone call to her manager in the living room. As it drug on, she climbed out of Tori's bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a tight black sweater she kept in her drawer in Tori's dresser for such occasions, and left the bedroom. Near the door, Tori's clothes from early that morning still lay crumpled on the floor where she'd left them, while the singer herself was absentmindedly pacing back and forth in the nude, while she spoke on the phone. Jade picked up the sweater - which belonged to her, actually, and tossed it at Tori's head, disrupting her call for a moment. The naked artist only scowled in confused silence.

"People across the street can see into your apartment, you know." The teasing went right over Tori's head, and she only held the sweater up against her body in a way that obscured almost nothing, while she returned her attention to the phone.

Jade picked up her own cell phone off the couch where she'd abandoned her things once Tori had sprung her from jail, and started reading through her four missed text messages while her girlfriend continued yapping to her manager about things Jade cared very little about. She checked her email, deleting all the unimportant ones, and mindlessly moved on to checking her social networking accounts to entertain herself.

Tori finally hung up the phone and pulled Jade's sweater over her head, though it was probably too late to bother covering up now. She went to the sink to splash some water in her face, and when she turned around to give Jade the results of her phone call, she was completely ignored.

"James wasn't too happy about the late notice but he said he can get you a ticket since you're kinda important for my image." No response. Tori watched Jade stare at her phone for a few seconds. "Jade?"

"Look what Ke$ha just tweeted." She muttered, her voice scarily devoid of emotion.

"Why? What's-"

"Tori,_ just look at it._" Following orders, Tori retrieved her cell phone once again and pulled up her twitter app, scrolling through it until she saw Ke$ha's name twice in a row. She read through the two tweets in her head a few times before she had any clue what Jade was talking about, and then she read them out loud.

"Love this song..." Tori mumbled, clicking on the link following those three words, which pulled up a video for Tori's song _Try Anyway. _While her breath escaped her, Tori went back to read the second tweet. "Met that chick once. She's got some sick cheekbones."

"Why is everyone so obsessed with your stupid chee-"

"Wait!" Tori interrupted Jade's complaint as it finally sunk in what had happened. "Ke$ha tweeted a link to my song... _My_ song."

"Yeah, and check out how many views it's got already." Before Tori could look for herself, Jade announced the number herself. "Almost 90,000, and she only tweeted that ten minutes ago."

"Oh my god..."

"You better put some pants on." Jade smiled through Tori's shock. "You're about to get famous."

It only took Jade a couple of minutes to talk Tori out of her plan to stay in that night. Despite the fact that she had an early interview and a plane to catch the next day, Tori let herself be dragged out to celebrate her future fame. Jade went home for a few hours to pack for her last minute trip, while Tori prepared some things herself. Just as the sun was starting to go down, Jade returned to get ready in Tori's apartment, before they started their night of celebration with some dinner.

The two women went to a semi-new nightclub they'd gone to together a couple of times before, and it was packed. They'd had a talk about it in the car before going inside, but Jade found herself having to down drink after drink to avoid castrating every guy inside who stupidly hit on Tori. She'd done a good enough job scaring them away from herself, but something about going out in public with Tori, just the two of them, attracted a lot of losers.

Even though Jade was shotgunning drinks like it was her job, Tori managed to get drunk first, and Jade could only laugh at her every time she said "I'm gonna regret this in the morning" before ordering another drink. The night quickly turned into a blur, and the last thing Tori remembered was dancing with Jade, before she woke up the next morning in the dark, curled up in an uncomfortable position. She could deduce from the stuffiness of the space she was in that it was small, but it was pitch black, so she started feeling around, until her hand met with something soft.

"Get your hand off my boob, you pervert." Jade's muffled voice startled Tori, and she sat up straight with a start, hitting her head on the row of rarely used coats above her head.

"Jade?" The hungover actress only grunted in response. "We had sex in my coat closet, didn't we?" Finally, Tori found the doorknob, and pushed the door open, letting some light infiltrate the tiny space.

"That's new." Jade mumbled softly. "I kinda remember you saying something about no windows, but that's it... What time is it?"

With her head throbbing, Tori crawled out into her entryway and pushed herself up into a standing position, before she checked the time on her stove.

"Shit! It's almost ten. _I'm gonna be so late._"

"Just call the magazine lady and have her come here." Jade suggested as she started searching for some clothes.

"Do you think she'd do that?"

"Sure. They interview Beyonce at home all the time."

"Yeah, but she's Beyonce..." An eye roll was the only response Tori got, so she tried calling the woman who she was set to be meeting with in less than five minutes, while Jade hopped in the shower. She pooled her messy hair into a pile on top of her head and did the best she could with the rest of her appearance, giving up just as her door buzzed. She let her guest into the building and hurried to clean up what she could of her apartment before a knock came to the door.

Tori invited her guest - Stephanie, she introduced herself, in just as Jade was getting out of the shower, and they sat down on the couch, ignoring the towel-clad girl as she crossed the hallway into Tori's bedroom. Stephanie asked Tori essentially the same questions she'd been asked at her prior interview. About Jade, mostly. She started off with a question about Tori's decision to be open about her sexuality from the start of her career - the media seemed to love that one. The fact that she'd apparently never tried to hide it was almost as exciting to them as if she'd leapt out of the closet right in front of them.

The rest of the interview was about her relationship with Jade - what Jade did for a living, how they got together (she had to lie a little about that one) and how supportive Jade was of her. This was only her second official interview, and Tori was already getting tired of her sexuality being the main focus.

Jade interrupted the parade of relationship questions by exiting Tori's bedroom fully clothed, with her damp hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. She entered the living room, bending down to kiss Tori on the forehead while making threatening eye contact with the relatively attractive guest she had.

"I'm gonna go home and finish packing. I'll probably be back around two."

"Okay." Tori mumbled. "I love you."

"'Course you do." The actress left with a smile on her face, having seen the look of surprise on Stephanie's. There was an awkward pause before the two remaining women continued the interview. The tabloid reporter ended with a question about Tori's album - most likely because she'd sensed Tori's annoyance, and the tension Jade had forced between the two of them was quickly relieved. Just after 12:30, Stephanie thanked Tori for her time and left the building, leaving the fatigued singer to finish up some last minute things before her 5 o'clock flight that night.

Jade had _said _she'd be back by two, but it was closer to 3:30 when she walked through the door, with no sense of how late she was. The girlfriends argued about her timing the whole way to the airport, only dropping the subject when they finally checked their bags at 4:30 exactly. Being Jade, the tardy actress had to rub their punctuality in Tori's face while they bought some snacks near their gate.

"You know you're supposed to show up for a flight _at_ _least _an hour early. What if we'd hit more traffic? Or got a flat tire?"

"We didn't." Jade popped open the bag of Cheetos Tori was still fishing for money to pay for, and dropped one in her mouth.

"We _could have."_

"_But we didn't." _Tori handed the cashier a ten dollar bill and gathered her collection of snacks from the counter before turning to glare at her girlfriend.

"I hate you." Jade only smiled.

"_So much." _She teased as she snatched the change from the emotionless middle-aged man running the shop.

Barely ten minutes later, the plane started boarding, and at about that time, Tori started to ignore every word her easily annoyed girlfriend had. Her head still hurt, and she could hardly contain her gratitude that it was a relatively empty flight - no screaming babies.

The plane took off with no trouble, but they had barely made it into the air before Jade got bored. She'd proven before that she couldn't go more than a few hours without her cell phone, and now on the plane, with nothing to do but nurse a migraine and stare out the window, Jade got antsy fast. She was squirming in her seat like a child within minutes of the plane leaving the runway, and when the pilot finally turned off the seatbelt sign, she immediately unbuckled herself and went to use the bathroom, if only for something to do. Tori, meanwhile, was nearly asleep in her aisle seat, with no bratty children or obnoxious businessmen anywhere around her. She'd nearly fallen asleep when Jade came back, forcing Tori's knees up to her chin as she squeezed past her to reclaim her seat.

"You wanna join the mile high club?" She asked, only seconds after sitting down. Tori looked at her in a mixture of shock and annoyance.

"You just actually _used _an airplane restroom, and now you want to go have sex in it?"

"I'm _bored_."

"Get used to it." Jade clearly hadn't been too serious about her offer, since she brushed Tori's rejection right off, but only a few minutes had passed before she brought it up again.

"I'm serious, Tori."

"_No!" _The singer hissed, jabbing her girlfriend in the side with her elbow as a punishment for being persistent. "It's like you can't go ten minutes without-"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm still hungover, and I'm tired, and there are people on this plane. I don't want to go into a TV interview with that kind of rumor forming..."

"On the way back, then?" Tori sighed and bent down to retrieve her bag from under the seat.

"You have a problem." She mumbled as she pulled her pearpad out of the depths of her carry-on. She forcefully placed it in Jade's hand, with a mumbled _"Here." _Jade scowled at Tori's maternal treatment, but that frown soon disappeared as she spent the rest of the flight curled up in the window seat, playing computerized card games as they crossed the country.


	27. Chapter 27

_**Once again, I appreciate your patience. You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the love you give this story. I hope you like this chapter.**_

The five hour flight to their first stop in Philadelphia went by quickly for Tori, who fell asleep within the first hour of the trip. Jade passed the time with some games on Tori's pearpad for a while, but without an internet connection, there wasn't much by way of entertainment on the device, and when the battery started dying as the third hour of the flight drew to a close, Jade took to people-watching for a while. There wasn't much to look at. The flight was _maybe _half full, and the majority of the passengers were average-looking middle-aged white people who were just as bored as she was. Nobody was doing anything even remotely interesting, so Jade watched the flight attendants as they went down the aisle, collecting the trash from the dining cart, which they'd taken out an hour earlier. The bored actress wasn't exactly sure what the food they'd been passing out _was_, and she'd only taken a couple of bites before deciding it wasn't for her. Now, her stomach was growling, and Tori was still passed out asleep in the aisle seat.

Another hour had passed before Jade got curious about the contents of Tori's carry-on bag. She seemed like the type to pack some snacks, and if she were awake she probably would've offered them to her girlfriend by that point anyway, Jade decided. She let her hunger get the best of her and bent down to retrieve the bag from between Tori's ankles. Just as Jade started to go through it, the seat belt light came back on, and the intercom speakers crackled. The older of the two flight attendants announced that they would be beginning their descent in the next few minutes. Her high-pitched voice was enough to finally wake Tori. She mumbled something tiredly as she opened her eyes, and a few seconds passed before she truly came to.

"What are you doing?" She finally questioned, reaching out to grab her bag from her nosy girlfriend.

"I'm hungry. I was looking for snacks. You missed dinner. It was disgusting though. I couldn't eat it."

"Well, that's airline food for you. You're lucky they even served anything but pretzels." Tori rummaged through her bag for a moment and retrieved a chocolate chip cookie, which she handed to the grumpy passenger. "We have a two hour layover in Philly. We can get something to eat there." Jade only sighed in disappointment and devoured the cookie in two bites, while Tori continued her mother hen routine by stowing her bag beneath the seat and buckling Jade's seat belt for her, with only a curious look in response.

It was a little windy outside, so the plane had a bit of a rough landing, prompting Tori to clutch Jade's hand so hard she cut off the circulation. At nearly 1 AM Eastern time, the plane finally pulled up to the gate and let the passengers off. Once they were on solid ground, Jade took the reins and immediately steered her girlfriend through the airport, searching for somewhere to eat that appealed to her even slightly. All the while, Tori complained about Jade's haste, begging for a stop at the restroom, to no avail. They finally found an Inside Out Burger, after Jade dismissed nearly every other restaurant in the place.

While she took her sweet time choosing something from the menu, Tori went to use the bathroom, checking the departures screen on the way back to make sure their next flight was on time before she returned, just as Jade was ordering. Tori added an order of fries and paid for the meal - just as Jade had expected her to - before the girls could finally take a seat.

The cranky actress' stomach had only just stopped growling when her meal was interrupted by a short blonde-haired teenage girl. She nervously approached the table by herself, eyes on Tori the while time. Jade just slowly chewed her hamburger as she watched the girl, who didn't seem to notice her.

"Excuse me," she said when she finally reached the table, "are you Tori Vega?" The singer looked up from her fries in shock, and just barely nodded in response as the girl smiled at her.

"Yes, I- hi." Tori spit out a few words and half a French fry.

"Awesome!" The intruder's voice got high as her smile grew, and she turned red almost immediately. "This is so weird," she commented, "I just listened to your album for the first time last night, and I put it on my pearpod to listen to during my flight to Cleveland, and then here you are, in the Philadelphia airport, of all places."

"I'm on my way to New York, actually. Not quite rich enough for a private plane." She laughed as she made eye contact with Jade, who wasn't the slightest bit amused.

"Well I'm really sorry to interrupt you, but could I get your autograph?" The airport seemed to go silent for a moment, as Tori only stared at the teenage girl in front of her, trying to remember if she'd ever woken up from her nap on the plane.

"Tori?" Jade seemed much more discomforted by her girlfriend's shocked silence than the singer's young fan was, but the truth was, she was harboring some deep jealousy toward her lover, to an extent greater than anything she'd felt since high school.

"I-yeah, yeah. Sure. I'm sorry, I'm just-"

"It's okay." Excitedly, the girl started digging through her bag for something to write on, but she quickly realized she didn't have anything. Internally, Jade was laughing at the poor girl's embarrassment, but for Tori's sake, she put on her friendly face and pulled a pen out of her own bag, before sliding it and an unused napkin in her direction.

"Thank you!" She mouthed, unable to form words, while Tori simply picked up the pen with a laugh and turned to her to ask,

"What's your name?"

"Ashley." She answered in such a soft voice that Tori nearly missed it. The still-surprised singer scribbled the first encouraging message that popped into her head on the paper napkin, added the signature she'd been practicing since her sophomore year of high school, and passed the autograph to her surprise fan.

"Thank you!" Ashley chirped, as she started to turn away. She must've seen the jealous look on Jade's face, though, and she lingered at the table a moment longer before she asked,

"And...would you mind?" Immediately, Tori answered for her.

"Jade would love to!" The forced grin on Tori's face made Jade's stomach churn, but she only stared at her girlfriend, rather than acknowledging the young girl asking for her autograph.

"Come on, Jade. This napkin will be worth a lot of money once your movie comes out." Tori joked with an anxious laugh. "Sign it for the girl."

With no more encouragement, Jade reached for the pen and started to scribble her name below Tori's. Meanwhile her much friendlier lover turned to her fan as if they were good friends catching up, and explained,

"Jade's got a part in the new Jamie Torrance movie. The trailer should be coming out soon, shouldn't it Jade?"

"Uh, yeah." She mumbled, sliding the worthless autographed napkin toward her girlfriend's intruding fan. "Probably in the next few weeks. Then you can stop bothering me about it."

"Jade. Don't be a grump." Tori frowned for a split second, and immediately forced a smile back onto her tired face as she turned to face Ashley one last time.

"It was nice to meet you." The girl finally took a hint, mumbled another thank you, and finally left them alone. Tori didn't have to say a word. Jade only had to see her face to know what she was thinking.

"She interrupted my dinner." The cranky actress complained, as if that were a good enough excuse.

The next flight into New York went by much more smoothly. The trip was only about an hour long, and while neither Tori nor Jade said a word the whole time, the grip they had on each other's hand didn't loosen until the plane had landed at LaGuardia, at nearly 4 AM.

Jade fell asleep in the taxi on the way to the hotel, but she was awake and accusing Tori of flirting with the woman at the front desk within an hour. Her reinstated sour mood continued as they made their way up to their room, while Tori kept denying that it had happened.

"You really need to learn the difference between being friendly to someone and hitting on them. Two people can be nice to each other without wanting to bone, you know!"

"You weren't just being nice." Jade mumbled, though she was close to giving up on the argument, as it was clear Tori was winning.

The elevator came to a stop on the third floor, and Tori led the way out, heat radiating from her skin despite the cold air outside. It was only about twenty degrees in New York at the moment, and it was quite the adjustment, coming from California. She barely felt it though, thanks to Jade's need to make everything difficult.

"I don't know why you're mad about it, clearly I'm only attracted to _assholes._"

"Oh and I'm sure hers is beautiful." Tori stopped in the middle of the hallway, room key in hand, and the only thing that stopped her from doubling over in a fit of laughter was the anger filling her stomach. She paused for a moment, trying to keep a straight face, and then turned to her irrational girlfriend once she was composed.

"Oh my god. You are just- Jade. I'm in love with _your _asshole. Not hers, not anyone else's. End of story." When Jade stayed silent, Tori continued down the hall, stopping to unlock the door without another word. It was only about 2 AM back home, but Tori felt like she'd gone a whole week without sleep, and with little thought, she dug through her suitcase for her pajamas, put them on, and climbed into bed. Cooled down, Jade followed suit, turning off the light as she joined her melodious girlfriend in bed. A few seconds passed, and then she quickly pressed her lips to Tori's cheek, and mumbled what passed as an apology before falling asleep.

"Your asshole's kinda nice too."

…

Flying in the night before had given the two women some time to adjust to their jet lag, but when they woke just after 2PM, their relaxation was over. Tori quietly made a few phone calls in the bathroom while Jade was sleeping, but once she returned to the main room, her girlfriend was awake and getting dressed for the day, which for her was sure to be rather boring, considering Tori would be spending the afternoon preparing for her interview, and the cold New York air would likely prevent Jade from doing anything exciting on her own.

Jade filled her half of the day with a combination of eating, following Tori around, and working on her laptop. She didn't complain much, but Tori knew she had to be bored. It had been Jade's decision to come, though, and Tori would've reminded her of that, had she ever verbally expressed her boredom. Surprisingly, she didn't. The hotheaded actress seemed content to just be there, keeping a watchful eye on her anxious partner.

Despite the boredom, Tuesday afternoon went by quickly. Tori and Jade's failure to adjust to the time difference just yet helped nighttime come much sooner than they'd expected. Just after 10, Tori walked into the studio where the show was filmed, with Jade right behind her. The studio was broken into three sections - the lobby, which was manned by a thin thirty-something man sitting behind a desk, the green room, sectioned off into separate areas for the cast and crew to prepare for the show, and the stage, a huge space filled only with a small, round table, surrounded by two large, olive green armchairs, and a conglomeration of lights and cameras. The show wasn't quite popular enough for a live audience, so it was a different atmosphere than the last show Tori had been on.

Jade sat in the green room on her computer, watching her girlfriend out of the corner of her eye as she socialized with some of the crew and prepared herself for the show. At about eleven, she went out on stage to do a quick walkthrough with the host, Max something. The guy wasn't exactly well known, which certainly didn't help the show any. By eleven-thirty, Tori was back in the green room, touching up her makeup and fixing her hair with trembling hands that didn't get past Jade.

"You'll be fine." Jade mumbled absentmindedly as she gently closed her laptop and shoved it into her bag.

"I know, I know. It's just the anticipation." With a deep breath, the singer sat down beside her girlfriend on a comfortable black chaise lounge stuffed into the corner of the green room, next to a large, dirty mirror with an equally neglected table below it.

"Nervous?" One of the crew members, an overweight Hispanic man in his fifties, wandered over to the corner where the two women were sitting.

"Just a little." Tori confessed, weaving her fingers through Jade's as she made eye contact with him.

"Here," he held out a shot glass, full to the top, "have a drink." Tori started to refuse it, but he quickly added, "Ah, go ahead. It's part of the pre-show ritual. Ease up a little." With a quick nod of her head, Tori grabbed the glass from his hand and tossed it back. The temporary bartender urged Tori to take a trip to the snack table, and she gave in, dragging Jade along with her. She didn't take any food, but Tori did accept another shot of tequila, offering it first to Jade, who declined.

With two minutes until showtime, Tori went back to the corner where she'd left her things, and popped in a breath mint while she checked her teeth in the mirror.

"Feel better?" Jade questioned, earning an affirmative nod in response.

"Yeah, it'll be fine." She leaned in to give Jade a quick kiss before she took off to take her place. Jade wandered out to the empty area behind the camera, taking a seat in one of the collection of chairs placed off to the side, specifically for the guest's entourage to sit in. Jade was the only one who had come along, so she sat by herself, watching the stage as the lights lit up and the host took his place at the front of the stage.

While the crew counted down, Jade tiredly checked her phone, wondering how long this show was gonna be. She was relieved when she Googled it to see it was only a half hour. She was glad Tori was getting the opportunity to be on TV, but she'd really rather be asleep, she thought.

"Good evening, and welcome to Music At Midnight." The sound of the host's voice rang through the studio. "I'm Max Murray. You may have heard the voice of tonight's guest on the radio, or in those LG commercials we're all getting sick of. She's probably one of the most interesting guests we've had on the show so far-" Jade audibly laughed at that idea, causing one of the crew members to glare at her. "Please welcome, Tori Vega!"

On queue, Tori walked out onto the small stage to the sound of some generic electronic music. She shook Max's hand and took a seat in one of the green armchairs, wearing a clearly exaggerated smile.

"So Tori, how are you tonight?" Jade was already sick of this Max guy's voice.

"I'm great," She answered a little too loudly. "I'm in New York for the first time. It's a little colder than what I'm used to, but it's great."

"Right, you're originally from California, correct?"

"Yeah, I've lived in LA pretty much my whole life." Jade could see the pink blush of Tori's cheeks from where she was sitting, and she knew the girl was a little drunk. Knowing Tori, that was sure to mean a good show for everyone. "I started going to a performing arts high school in Hollywood when I was about 16, and I've been singing ever since."

"And high school, that's where you met your girlfriend?" Even Jade was surprised that he'd moved so directly to that subject already.

"Umm, yeah, I, uh-"

"Just to clarify for our audience, you've been very open about the fact that you're a lesbian from the start of your career. That's not something you see in pop music everyday."

"Yeah, you know, I just didn't really think it mattered. It's not really something I go around telling everybody, but I'm not really someone who's gonna hide it until I can come out on the cover of People magazine for a million dollars. I care a lot more about my music, honestly."

"That's great. Honesty is very refreshing in this industry." Tori put on an uncomfortable smile and briefly made eye contact with Jade, before turning her attention back to Max. Clearly she hadn't expected the focus of the interview to be her sexuality, but it didn't surprise Jade much.

"Your girlfriend, Jade- she's an actress, right?" Tori nodded apprehensively, but still kept smiling. "And like you mentioned earlier, the two of you went to school together. How exactly did you first meet?"

"Oh, I uh...I don't know if she'd really want me to tell that story."

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad." With one quick glance at Jade, Tori sighed and attempted to sugarcoat the tale.

"I started school there in the middle of my sophomore year, and we ummm... we didn't really get off to a good start. Jade's a really competitive person, and...yeah, we had an acting class together, and we kind of...butted heads a lot. We didn't get along." The pink in Tori's cheeks had spread through her whole face, and it was obvious she was irritated.

"Clearly that's not the case anymore. How did things change?"

"I don't know, people grow up, they change, and- I'm sorry, but I was under the impression this show was about music. You haven't asked me a single question about my music yet."

"It is, it is. We just, well our audience likes to get to _know _artists."

"_Get to know? _You could've ask me all sorts of questions about myself. My favorite color is purple, I'm a fan of Katy Perry, I like puppies, and I can't cook. You're only asking my about my sexuality. You don't care about me as an artist. You care about me as a lesbian. It's really not that exciting." It seemed like Tori hadn't taken a single breath yet, and Jade couldn't contain herself as her girlfriend lost it on camera. "You wanna know about our relationship? When we go out for dinner, I pay, but when we stay in, she cooks for me. I make most of the decisions, she kills all the spiders. I like to keep things clean, she's a little bit messy. When we sleep at night, she hogs the covers. She's always the little spoon, I'm always the big one, and she tastes like fucking cherries."

"GO TO COMMERCIAL" One of the crew members shouted, as Tori stood up from her chair and left the stage, making her way straight to Jade, who was giving her a standing ovation, by that point. Wrapping her arms around her distraught girlfriend, Jade whispered in her ear,

"That was so hot."

"I screwed up, I screwed up, I- Jade, I need to go. I need to go." Incredibly amused by the poor girl's meltdown, Jade led her back into the green room to retrieve her things.

"It's fine, Tori. You had every right to be upset. They totally misled you. That guy's a dick. Don't worry about it. I doubt anyone saw it anyway. This show sucks."

"I hear that!" Some of the crew had congregated to the corner, watching as the night's guest left, a full five minutes before her interview was over. A couple of women in the back pumped their fists in the air, cheering Tori on. As she shoved the last of her things in her bag and pulled it over her shoulder, an older woman pushed another shot glass into her hands.

"Good luck." She said with a soft smile and a wink.

"Good luck finding better jobs." Jade mumbled in response, as she pushed Tori out of the green room, through the lobby, and back outside, where Tori downed the shot and then missed when she tried to throw it into a garbage can. The glass shattered on the ground, and she started to cry. Jade didn't say a word to comfort her, and only took her hand as they walked together down the sidewalk, their breath coming out in a cloud, like smoke from the throat of a dragon.

"My whole career is a joke." She sobbed, turning to bury her head in Jade's chest. "I'm never going to be taken seriously."

"You're the one that wanted to be a pop star."

"That's not helping." The smile on Tori's face said otherwise. She leaned heavily against her girlfriend as the sober girl waved over a taxi, and by the time Jade helped her inside, the alcohol had really hit her. She was happier now, but tears still slipped from her eyes, and the whole ride back to the hotel, she lay with her head in Jade's lap, slipping her thumb through a tear in the left knee of the girl's jeans.

Back at the hotel, Tori started to find her meltdown funny. Jade had to drag her to the elevator, which she seemed to think was a private place, despite the tiny camera in the corner.

"God, you get drunk fast." Jade mumbled, swatting Tori's hands off her as the inebriated artist kept groping her. Once they were finally in their hotel room, Tori happily started peeling off her clothes, while Jade left her to her own devices and went to wash up in the bathroom.

"_Jaaaade..._" Tori poked her head around the corner, giggling.

"Feeling better already?" Jade mumbled through a mouthful of toothpaste.

"_Much better. _Guess what." She didn't get an answer. "Guess what, Jadey."

"Don't call me that."

"_Guess what."_ Tori started to get upset when Jade continued to avoid answering her.

"_What?!" _

"I'm naked."

"I know you are." Jade said with a sigh, as she shut off the sink and put her toothbrush and toothpaste back. "You started taking off your clothes before I even shut the door." Tori stepped out from behind the door frame, looking slightly disappointed.

"Jade." Rather than upset her anymore, Jade looked her right in the eyes. Tori only wiggled her eyebrows and engulfed her sober girlfriend in a giant hug, nearly suffocating her. _"Touch me,"_ she whispered in her ear once she finally loosened her grip.

"_No."_ Jade whispered back in the same tone of voice, mocking her.

"Why not?"

"You're drunk and I feel like your mother right now." Jade's maternal side told her it was best to let the baby cry, so she ignored Tori while she finished getting ready for bed.

"I don't care. I wouldn't say no if I was sober." Finally, it seemed like Tori had taken a hint, and she went silent, moving to her own suitcase to pull out a t-shirt she'd packed to sleep in. She yanked it over her head backwards, noticed her mistake, and chose not to fix it before she crawled beneath her side of the covers. Jade slipped in beside her without a word, keeping her eyes on her cell phone as she relaxed. Minutes ticked by in silence, until Jade set her phone on the nightstand beside her and closed her eyes.

"Jade." The other side of the bed still remained quiet. Tori's hand crept beneath the sheets, her breath loud in her girlfriend's ear as she slid her hand up the sober one's thigh.

"_Jadey_."

"I told you not to call me that." Though Jade didn't hesitate to use a displeased tone with her, Tori only giggled, unphased, and started to hum.

"Jadeylicious, definition: _makes me wanna have sex with you right now_-"

"No." Tori's face fell, but she finally accepted Jade's ultimate refusal, leaning over to shut off the lamp as she mumbled,

"You ruined the song." The alcohol was just beginning to wear off, and Tori rolled onto her side in the dark, trying to relax enough to fall asleep. She wasn't in the state of mind to be as concerned by Jade's attitude as she otherwise would be, but she certainly wasn't sleeping with a smile.

"Dammit." Jade mumbled, breaking the silent just a few minutes later. "You got that stupid song stuck in my head. Tori only laughed, enjoying the night's last tiny bit of mischief.


	28. Chapter 28

_**I'm the worst human on the face of the planet, I know, but I DID finish it, didn't I?**_

The window in the Californian couple's New York hotel room leaked a little, Tori realized when she woke shivering in Jade's arms. She tried to ignore the cold and pulled the blankets up around her, snuggling up to the sleeping woman even more. This time Tori's movement awakened her girlfriend, and she carefully watched as Jade's eyes fluttered open, waiting to judge her mood. Tori had found that Jade's emotional state during the first few seconds after she woke up usually set the tone for the rest of the day. With Jade, there certainly was a right and wrong side of the bed, and nothing could be done about it.

"'Morning Jadey." The cautious singer deduced from the content look in Jade's eyes that it would be a good day.

"Good morning." She mumbled, squeezing Tori even tighter as she sleepily came to.

"...Is something wrong?"

"No. Why would something be wrong? _What did you do?"_

"Nothing! It's just...you hate it when I call you Jadey and you only ever let me get away with it if you're upset and-"

"Well maybe -" Jade's left hand slipped between Tori's legs, while she wedged the other beneath the singer's shoulder, pulling her in as close as possible.

"Oh- oh!" A little late, Tori caught on, her stomach muscles tightening as butterflies started fluttering around inside.

"...you just shouldn't call me that." Jade didn't take her time - she immediately flipped Tori onto her back and took her place on top, lips traveling across her surprised girlfriend's collarbone.

"Someone's horny this morning." The ticklish songstress giggled through her words as her creative counterpart found just about every ticklish spot on her body.

"I have been since last night." Jade gasped through weighted breaths as her fingers ran across Tori's ribs like they were keys on a piano.

"You could've had me then."

"You were drunk. I wasn't. I would've felt weird about it. Now shut up." With a smile and a quick eye roll, Tori ended the conversation and spread her arms and legs, giving her lover permission to do whatever she pleased.

"Do your worst." The look on Jade's face said she was more than happy to, until the sound of Tori's phone vibrating on the night stand interrupted their moment.

"That's probably James." Tori groaned, partly due to the impending scolding she was sure to get, but also because of what she now wasn't getting from her oddly patient girlfriend.

"You better answer it."

"Uh, no, that's okay." The unusually encouraging actress only sat up in the bed, smiling at her significant other for several seconds of the phone buzzing before she explained her lack of annoyance at the interruption.

"Answer it. Listening to you get yelled at is better foreplay than what I had planned." With a sigh, Tori anxiously grabbed her phone, as Jade snuggled right up beside her, gently lifting the phone to Tori's ear while her lips grazed the girl's neck.

While Tori quietly dealt with her punishment for her behavior the night before, Jade wrapped her arms around the singer's torso, gently sucking on her neck - not hard enough to leave a mark, but hard enough to get her worked up. Tori was squirming in her arms, and her temporarily parasitic lover was deeply enjoying it.

As Tori's nervous voice morphed back into her regular speaking voice, her actress girlfriend slowly started to lose interest, and by the time the popstar hung up, Jade was standing, studying herself in the mirror above the dresser. Tori set the phone down on the side table and crawled across the bed, sliding off once she reached the end.

"They actually weren't that mad," she said, pressing herself up against Jade's back. "Apparently they mean it when they say any publicity is good publicity, you know." She ran her hands over the girl's toned stomach and rubbed her cheek against Jade's shoulder blades before she spoke again in a quiet whisper.

"Now where were we?" Without pause, Jade spun around and touched her lips to Tori's forehead.

"I'm not in the mood anymore." A smile broke out on her face when she heard Tori sigh in disappointment. Sometimes the singer wondered if Jade maybe got more satisfaction out of teasing than sex itself.

"Go take a cold shower. You'll be fine." Jade smiled after her girlfriend as she did what she was told and slowly journeyed to the bathroom. When the sound of the shower came on, Jade contemplated joining her lover, but the thought of her naked skin touching the walls of the filthy tub turned her off of that idea, and she started packing instead.

Within the hour, the two girls were leaving for the airport - Tori was still adamant about getting there really early, and Jade didn't bother to argue with her this time. Once they went through security, they still had an hour before the plane was due to start boarding, so, peacefully this time, Tori and Jade stopped at a Subway by their gate and had a sandwich each while they waited.

They didn't talk much, but the way Tori was sliding her foot up Jade's leg under the table - and the way Jade wasn't reacting negatively to it - proved they were in a good place. The footsie-playing pop star was exhausted, and she'd gotten to the point of daydreaming about taking a nap face down in her sub when Jade suddenly stood up, jump-starting Tori's heart.

"What- where are you going?" Jade got up without a word and crossed the airport, walking into a small convenience store across from where she'd been eating her dinner. She snatched a magazine off the rack and walked right out without paying for it, returning to the table while the cashier inside gave her a dirty look.

"_Jade!" _Tori grumbled at her girlfriend's minor theft, and stood up, pulling a couple dollar bills out of her purse and bringing them to the cashier, who was coming after the oblivious shoplifter.

"What was that about?" Back at the table, Tori questioned the other girl's behavior, but sat down without much conviction. Shoplifting a magazine was hardly the worst thing Jade had done.

"Look!" Jade pushed the magazine into Tori's lap, waiting for a reaction that came a little too slowly for her taste.

"That's us!" The magazine in the surprised girl's hands had dedicated its cover mostly to Brad and Angelina's latest adoption, but at the bottom, there was a small picture of Tori and Jade holding hands outside a restaurant after a date - Tori hadn't even noticed there'd been photographers there but she knew what night the picture was from. A small caption in bold yellow letters read "FAKING FOR FAME?".

"Oh my god..." Before Tori could react any further, Jade ripped the magazine from her grasp and flipped it open, looking for the story inside. Once she found it, she started reading it out loud to her no-longer-fake girlfriend.

The small magazine article suggested their relationship was completely faked, due mostly to the words of some anonymous source who claimed to have gone to Hollywood Arts with the two of them. The source had told the magazine about Tori and Jade's relationship during high school, using something rather dynamic as the basis of their claims. Now it certainly didn't help their case, but then the article went on to say that they had definitive proof that Tori was actually married to a guy, and had faked her relationship with Jade for attention, and that was when it got ridiculous. If this article had come out a few months earlier, it might have actually had some ground to stand on, but now, both girls were torn between laughing and hunting down the "source" to teach them a lesson.

"If I found out you were married to someone else, you know I'd rip your intestines out and strangle you with them, right?" Jade asked with a hint of a playful smile across her face.

"Oh of course." The accused singer reached out to grab Jade's hand, wearing a matching facial expression. "We finally made the cover of a magazine though. Magazines are spreading lies about us Jade, I think we're famous."

"Well those lies were almost true a few months ago...but we're getting there." Finally, an announcement came over the intercom that their flight was boarding, and the two women hurriedly cleaned up the remnants of their dinner and headed for their gate.

On the plane, Jade slept for most of the trip, and Tori tried to. She couldn't fall asleep, but she sat with her eyes closed and Jade's head on her shoulder for a large portion of the flight, until her girlfriend finally woke up, about an hour before they were due to land. She didn't say anything for a while - just played with the rings on her lover's fingers - but after several minutes of boredom, she spoke up.

"Do you think if we joined the mile high club right here right now, people would believe we're really together?"

"I'm almost one hundred percent sure we'd get arrested."

"It could be worth it." Jade teased, shut down by the sound of the flight attendant announcing their descent, and Tori's soft laughter.

The two women finally reached LAX at nearly 5PM, and with the time and effort it took to get off the plane, retrieve their luggage, and haul it out to the car, Tori and Jade were both exhausted by the time they hit the road. Jade drove this time, knowing how bad of a driver Tori could be when she was at her best. Even with nothing to concentrate on, however, the singer stayed awake in the passenger seat. The two of them had finally started to adjust to the east coast, so now that they were home, even though it was only 6:30, it felt closer to 10, and the bright sun and warm winter air seemed out of place.

By the time Jade parked Tori's car in the parking garage, the two of them were only seconds away from falling asleep. Jade popped the trunk and got out of the car, but she only stared inside at their luggage, not bothering to pull it out. Tori walked up beside her, but didn't make a move either.

"You wanna go take a nap first?" Jade suggested, knowing Tori wasn't going to turn her down and it was an easy way to get out of heavy lifting, for the time being.

"Yeah, a nap sounds great. Let's do that."

With the last burst of energy they had, Tori and Jade rushed upstairs to Tori's apartment and collapsed on the girl's queen-sized bed, leaving all the remnants of their trip downstairs.

"This is the best decision I've ever made." The fatigued actress muttered through the fabric of Tori's sheets, as she lie face down on the bed.

"It's definitely in my top ten." Smiling Tori agreed sleepily.

"Shut up so I can sleep." With only a loving eye roll, Tori silenced herself and wriggled into the space behind her girlfriend, taking her usual spot in the bed. She looped an arm over Jade's waist and was asleep within minutes.

It was almost three hours before the two girls finally retrieved their luggage from the parking garage, feeling energized but not quite in the mood to unpack anything. Their bags sat in the entryway beside Tori's desk, where they would stay, mostly untouched, for the next few days. Once everything was inside, Tori took a seat on the floor in front of her couch and turned the TV on, ready for some more relaxation. Without any complaints about the channel her girlfriend had chosen, Jade sat down beside her, still a little tired from their trip.

"You know what the best decision I ever made was?" Tori asked, calling back the actress' comment from earlier.

"If you say me I'll have no choice but to hit you." Jade sent a playful glare Tori's way, but it didn't phase her.

"You." She barely got the word out, grinning as she said it because she knew what was coming next. Instantly, Jade launched herself at Tori, tackling her to the ground before the cheesy answer could get to her head. She straddled the skinny girl's hips, holding her down with nothing but her body weight. Tori didn't struggle though. Gazing up at the best decision she'd ever made, Tori tried not to smile, but failed miserably.

"Who would've known we'd ever be here?" Jade wondered aloud, suddenly in awe of how much her life had changed in the past few years. Her facial expression suggested she was genuinely taken aback by the change in circumstances.

"I'm glad we are." Tori answered softly.

"You know how you asked me to move in with you?" Jade suddenly brought up a conversation Tori had almost forgotten they'd had. It seemed like so long ago, and she'd never quite realized that she hadn't received an answer yet.

"Yeah…?" The restricted girl's stomach started to fill with butterflies as she studied the expression on Jade's face from beneath her.

"You were serious, right?"

"Of course I was!" She may have answered a little too enthusiastically, Tori realized. Now she looked like a lunatic, she was sure.

"Good, 'cause I'm not planning on leaving here."

"Here as in my apartment, or here as in on top of me?" Jade pressed her lips together, hard, and put on her thinking face, trying to make Tori squirm.

"Hmmm... I think the first one, because I was kinda hoping _you'd_ be on top of _me_ in the near future..."

"Can you give me a more specific time for that, 'cause I kinda have somewhere I have to be and-" Jade shut her up with a long, hard kiss, breaking only to catch her breath.

"Yeah, now works. Now would be great."

"Shut up."

Tori and Jade spent the rest of the evening christening their now official shared living space, all thoughts about the future so far in the back of their minds you'd need a map to find them. Their relationship was apparently being doubted by the public, and the future was sure to bring many more tests, but they didn't care. They didn't care when they both fell asleep on the hard living room floor, and they continued not caring all the way through the night.

The next morning when Tori woke up she was in bed, alone. Right away she realized that something was off, but it took her a minute to remember that this was not where she'd fallen asleep. She started to get out of bed, but sleep still held her down, and by the time she'd slowly sat up, her bedroom door squeaked open, and all the worry and confusion disappeared.

"Oh, you're up." Jade's voice didn't have much emotion in it, contrasting with the relieved sigh Tori responded with. It wasn't until she put it down that the tired pop star noticed the box that her girlfriend had been holding. It wasn't very big, but it had rattled when the actress set it on the dresser.

"What's in the box?" Tori asked with a yawn, finally getting out of her bed with no desire to start the day yet.

"Stuff from my apartment." The nonchalant answer Jade gave carried a lot more meaning than she'd intended it to.

"Wait, you're moving your stuff now?"

"You were sleeping." Jade brushed off Tori's shocked expression right away, paying more attention to the contents of her cardboard box.

"I would've helped. You should've woken me up." The newly conscious singer wrapped her arms around Jade's torso as she snuck up behind her, resting her chin on the actress' shoulder as she peered into the box.

"Yeah," Jade mumbled, "but then you would've gotten dressed." Tori only laughed, making no move to put any clothes on. She touched her lips to the soft white of Jade's neck and sighed in content.

"Jade."

"What?" Finally tearing her attention away from the box of decorations, Jade twisted around in her girlfriend's grasp, turning to face her.

"Nothing with eye sockets is going in my bedroom." Without fighting it, Jade only rolled her eyes. She hadn't expected Tori to let her redecorate.

"Fine, but can we change the paint color? It's too bright in here." Tori mumbled a "maybe" without much thought, as her eye caught something small and plastic in the box. Jade instantly read her mind, reaching into the box and pulling out a small unmarked CD case.

"I have a present for you." With a spin, Jade turned around, hiding the disc behind her back, pressed against the dresser. The sly grin on her face had Tori just a little bit worried about what her roommate planned to do with the so-called present, but she was a curious person and she was not above begging Jade to let her have the gift right away.

"Oh do you?" She responded coolly instead.

"Yes, and after you unpack the rest of my boxes for me, I'll let you have it."

"...the rest of your boxes?" Apprehensively, the tanned girl ripped her bathrobe off the hook on the wall and moved toward the bedroom door, pushing it open only to see at least a dozen large boxes on the floor in her living room.

"Jade! You packed up your whole apartment and moved it here while I was sleeping?"

"Not all of it… My furniture's still waiting to be put in storage." Tori still didn't seem amused by her new roommate's sneaky move-in tactics. "Okay, so I've kind of been packing up my stuff for a couple weeks. It didn't take very long and I kinda wanted to do it myself." Rather than say another word, the apartment's primary tenant simply pulled her robe tight and got to unpacking. While most people would assist her, Jade decided she'd already done her share of the work and sat down on the couch to watch.

"Nuh uh, get your butt over here and help me." Tori snapped right away motioning with her pointer finger as she started digging through the largest box.

For the next hour and a half, the two women went through Jade's belongings, putting away her clothes, deciding whose toaster they should use, whose coffee pot. They sorted the majority of her things, transferring what they wouldn't need into one box to be put in storage. Tori had never realized, when in Jade's crowded apartment, that she really didn't have much. Aside from her clothing, shoes, cosmetics and kitchenware, Jade had very few belongings, which made moving her in go much more quickly.

By mid-afternoon, Tori had forgotten all about her "gift," and had collapsed on the couch, still wearing just her bathrobe, while Jade snuck off to the bedroom to retrieve the little disc. Before Tori even noticed she was gone, the devious girl had returned, with her finger through the hole in a shiny blank DVD.

"Director's cut." She vaguely explained when the sparkle of the sunlight off the disc caught Tori's eye.

"...Of your movie?" Jade nodded. "They gave you that already?!"

"In a way." With barely a pause, she moved to place the bootleg DVD in the player. "Now you don't have to be annoyed with me for not giving away the whole plot." The actress could almost feel Tori rolling her eyes at that as she curled up beside her on the couch.

"You know I had to a sign a confidentiality agreement. _Besides, _I wanted to see the look on your face when you found out I was the killer."

"_Jade!"_

_**Oops spoiler alert. **_

_**That's all folks. I deeply deeply appreciate you all having the patience to stick with me to the end. I probably would have given up by now if I were you so I admire your dedication. I hope this ending wasn't too much of a disappointment. It's better than this not being finished at all, right?**_


End file.
